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Will Hong Kong’s protest art be saved?

A movement debates how and whether to preserve a creative explosion in an authoritarian state

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Protest art showing Hong Kong’s chief executive is among the most popular.

  • HONG KONG - OCTOBER 29: A poster showing Hong Kong's Chief Executive C.Y. Leung is seen on a wall at the Occupy Central protest site in the Admiralty District on October 29, 2014 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. The protest site is full of artwork, changing daily as new pieces are put up across the walls outside Hong Kong's Government Complex. Artwork showing C.Y. Leung are among the most popular. Peaceful creative expression has become a real passion at the protest as art is displayed everywhere at the site. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
    Chris McGrath/getty images
    As the protests in Hong Kong have unfolded, the rallies have produced something else as well: a dazzling display of protest art, with a fervor and scale that would surprise any city.
  • HONG KONG - OCTOBER 29: A poster showing Hong Kong's Chief Executive C.Y. Leung is seen on a wall at the Occupy Central protest site in the Admiralty District on October 29, 2014 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. The protest site is full of artwork, changing daily as new pieces are put up across the walls outside Hong Kong's Government Complex. Artwork showing C.Y. Leung are among the most popular. Peaceful creative expression has become a real passion at the protest as art is displayed everywhere at the site. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
    Chris McGrath/Getty Images
    In a city better known for its financial excess than a rich arts scene, the Umbrella Movement has become an iconic cultural happening.
  • HONG KONG - OCTOBER 29: A poster showing Hong Kong's Chief Executive C.Y. Leung is seen on a wall at the Occupy Central protest site in the Admiralty District on October 29, 2014 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. The protest site is full of artwork, changing daily as new pieces are put up across the walls outside Hong Kong's Government Complex. Artwork showing C.Y. Leung are among the most popular. Peaceful creative expression has become a real passion at the protest as art is displayed everywhere at the site. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
    Chris McGrath/Getty Images
    The city’s chief executive, C.Y. Leung, is a popular subject of the protesters’ art.
  • HONG KONG - OCTOBER 29: A poster showing Hong Kong's Chief Executive C.Y. Leung is seen on a wall at the Occupy Central protest site in the Admiralty District on October 29, 2014 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. The protest site is full of artwork, changing daily as new pieces are put up across the walls outside Hong Kong's Government Complex. Artwork showing C.Y. Leung are among the most popular. Peaceful creative expression has become a real passion at the protest as art is displayed everywhere at the site.
    Chris McGrath/Getty Images
    He has been depicted on posters as a wolf, as Hitler, and as Mao.
  • HONG KONG - OCTOBER 29: A poster showing Hong Kong's Chief Executive C.Y. Leung is seen on a wall at the Occupy Central protest site in the Admiralty District on October 29, 2014 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. The protest site is full of artwork, changing daily as new pieces are put up across the walls outside Hong Kong's Government Complex. Artwork showing C.Y. Leung are among the most popular. Peaceful creative expression has become a real passion at the protest as art is displayed everywhere at the site.
    Chris McGrath/Getty Images
    It’s conceivable that some objects could wind up in such collections or museums. One place unlikely to host such a show, however, is Hong Kong itself. Most big cultural events here are sponsored or financed by the government; most dollars flow from the government’s Arts Development Council, which tends to fund established groups—orchestras, Cantonese opera, the ballet. The Hong Kong government, arts specialists say, won’t want to help preserve art that skewers the chief executive and the city’s leadership.
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