Victoria Park｜維多利亞公園
2021
ink and colour on paper
140 x 92.5cm
Private collection｜私人收藏
Victoria Park documents the controversial displacement of one of Hong Kong’s most iconic monuments, the statue of Queen Victoria, originally unveiled in Statue Square in 1896 on the occasion of her birthday and Jubilee. Like the lions in Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, the statue was taken from the city during World War II but was spared from being melted down in Japan. Damaged on its return to Hong Kong in 1952, it was repaired and the relocated to Victoria Park in 1957. Further damage came in 1996, a year before the city’s handover, when the young activist artist Pan Xinglei defaced the statue with red paint and broke its nose, protesting against “dull, colonial culture”. With Victoria Park as the key site of many of the city’s demonstrations – from the riots in the 1960s to the June 4th vigil to the more recent protests – the sculpture has witnessed the turmoil of history. Together with other icons of Hong Kong, Tang’s exploration of monuments outlines the major events that mark a tumultuous century of change and social tension in the city.
《維多利亞公園》細數香港其中最具代表性的銅像在爭議聲下被移走的一刻。為慶祝維多利亞女皇誕辰暨登基60周年，該像於1986年在皇后像廣場揭幕。第二次世界大戰期間，皇后像被移送至日本，但最終跟《香港動植公園》中的那對銅獅子像一樣逃過一劫。1952年運回香港途中受損，1957年修復成功後重置於維多利亞公園，到了1996年銅像再次受破壞，在香港回歸前一年，年輕的行動藝術家潘星磊打歪銅像鼻子，並淋上紅油，藉此表達對「乏味殖民文化」的控訴。維園乃香港多年桃的抗議之地，由60年代暴動，六四晚會，到近年的社運，女皇像見證了歷史的盪氣迴腸。連同其他城市地標，鄧啟耀的地圖繪畫出百年桃香港的變遷以及社會的張力。
Text by Tai Kwun Contemporary
2021
ink and colour on paper
140 x 92.5cm
Private collection｜私人收藏
Victoria Park documents the controversial displacement of one of Hong Kong’s most iconic monuments, the statue of Queen Victoria, originally unveiled in Statue Square in 1896 on the occasion of her birthday and Jubilee. Like the lions in Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, the statue was taken from the city during World War II but was spared from being melted down in Japan. Damaged on its return to Hong Kong in 1952, it was repaired and the relocated to Victoria Park in 1957. Further damage came in 1996, a year before the city’s handover, when the young activist artist Pan Xinglei defaced the statue with red paint and broke its nose, protesting against “dull, colonial culture”. With Victoria Park as the key site of many of the city’s demonstrations – from the riots in the 1960s to the June 4th vigil to the more recent protests – the sculpture has witnessed the turmoil of history. Together with other icons of Hong Kong, Tang’s exploration of monuments outlines the major events that mark a tumultuous century of change and social tension in the city.
《維多利亞公園》細數香港其中最具代表性的銅像在爭議聲下被移走的一刻。為慶祝維多利亞女皇誕辰暨登基60周年，該像於1986年在皇后像廣場揭幕。第二次世界大戰期間，皇后像被移送至日本，但最終跟《香港動植公園》中的那對銅獅子像一樣逃過一劫。1952年運回香港途中受損，1957年修復成功後重置於維多利亞公園，到了1996年銅像再次受破壞，在香港回歸前一年，年輕的行動藝術家潘星磊打歪銅像鼻子，並淋上紅油，藉此表達對「乏味殖民文化」的控訴。維園乃香港多年桃的抗議之地，由60年代暴動，六四晚會，到近年的社運，女皇像見證了歷史的盪氣迴腸。連同其他城市地標，鄧啟耀的地圖繪畫出百年桃香港的變遷以及社會的張力。
Text by Tai Kwun Contemporary