Hong Kong S Umbrella Revolution and Its Art Essay

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Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong is directed at the Hong Kong government and the police force dispensed on its behalf. It is a movement that was unofficially recognized in 2014 and started spontaneously and had a practical inspiration, as the umbrellas of protestors were used as protection against tear gas from police. The protestors were defending themselves from aggressive assault by Hong Kong police and were there to protest unfair elections. The protestors identified with earlier protestors of China, such as those at Tiananmen Square in 1989, where the Chinese government ruthlessly cracked down on protestors. In Hong Kong, which is independent in the sense that it has a special autonomy within China, the fear among the protestors was that corruption in government and politics was going to end in unfair elections, so thousands took to the streets to voice their opposition. As a result of the visual spectacle of so many people with umbrellas in the streets facing off against police, the term Umbrella Movement was coined and the Movement began to be expressed in more visual ways, following on this theme of political action and unique visualizations. The umbrella became a symbol that was incorporated by artists in Hong Kong into politically-themed works of art. This paper will focus on Umbrella Movement and show how artistic representations of the Movement have helped to raise political awareness about the underlying issues faced by concerned Hong Kong citizens.

One of the most iconic images of the Umbrella Movement is one of the first images to be spread around the world using social media. The photograph was taken in September of 2014 in the midst of the Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong, when protestors squared off against police, who were using tear gas on the public. The photo depicts an unknown man with an umbrella in each hand and his arms open wide in a stance of defiance against the Hong Kong authorities. Surrounding him is a swirl of smoke and gas, as he from his torso up stands unscathed, arms up, resisting the oppressive forces of the police. He is center of the photo but not in the foreground; rather he is in the distance and in the foreground of the photo are people running and trying to get away from the attack. The Umbrella Man as he came to be called was a symbol of strength and determination on the part of the people in response to the authoritarian and oppressive practices of the government.

The image has certainly become iconic and AFP reports that "history will remember it as the 'umbrella revolution'" precisely because of the contrasting image of a man with umbrellas facing off against police with tear gas, helmets, shields, etc.[footnoteRef:1] On the social level, the Umbrella Movement achieved some success as the riot police withdrew from the scene leaving the protestors to rejoice and celebrate their victory. For this reason, the umbrella became a sign of defiance, strength and courage for the protestors -- it was a kind of artistic shield that served both a practical purpose of blocking the tear gas and an artistic/symbolic purpose of unity and strength. The umbrella also symbolizes the collective will of the protestors and their desire for some political umbrella that protects them from the corruption of being integrated more fully into the Chinese government, which is not something that the people want: they want to retain their autonomy that they have as a result of being considered a Special Administrative Region with a free-market economy that is more Westernized than the centrally-planned market in China. [1: AFP, "How umbrellas have become the symbol of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests," Herald Sun, 2014, accessed 6 May 2016 from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/how-umbrellas-have-become-the-symbol-of-hong-kongs-prodemocracy-protests/news-story/fa1275c97de82ecfdfc04140d68dd20f]

The powerful impact of the Umbrella Man image and other Umbrella Movement photos was found so compelling by the Chinese government that it moved to block the images from being spread via social media on the Internet.[footnoteRef:2] This was a sure sign that the artistic merits of the Umbrella Man image and the other images connected to the Umbrella Movement were effective in conveying a sense of unity and inspiration to others: the Chinese authorities were fearful of these images and wanted them taken away from the people and removed from the public discourse. Some people took the image and created new artistic images with it: for instance, one artist created a picture in which the Umbrella Man stood in the middle of a street blocking the way of oncoming tanks in an obvious reference to another iconic image -- the Tank Man image from the Tiananmen Square protests in China in 1989. Thus, the two protests were connected by this visual artistic medium and it is no wonder that the Chinese government moved to censor these images: it has always been reluctant to allow Tiananmen Square to be politicized and used by dissenters as a way to protest the authoritarianism of the government.

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In the image of the Umbrella Man blocking the oncoming tanks, the iconography of the Umbrella Movement was being used by new artists to convey an attitude of defiance that would surely rattle the Chinese authorities and remind them of their history of brutality against the defenseless people.[footnoteRef:3] [2: AFP, "How umbrellas have become the symbol of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests," Herald Sun, 2014, accessed 6 May 2016 from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/how-umbrellas-have-become-the-symbol-of-hong-kongs-prodemocracy-protests/news-story/fa1275c97de82ecfdfc04140d68dd20f] [3: Joe Wiesnthal, "This is the Iconic Hong Kong Photo the World Will Never Forget," Business Insider, 2014, accessed 6 May 2016 from http://www.businessinsider.com/umbrella-man-hong-kong-2014-9]

The beauty of the Umbrella Movement and the Umbrella Man image is that it has generated such a strong response not only in China and Hong Kong but also around the world. Various news outlets covered the story and discussed the photographs that emerged from protest. There was a quiet and touching poignancy about the pictures that stressed the clash of two cultures -- one a culture of delicacy and color, the other a culture of brute force and coercion. The umbrella was not a shield like that of the police or a weapon like the tear gas -- it was a simple household object, a symbol of the home, of the life of the domestic society, which was feeling taken over by the government and its corruption. The umbrella thus acted as a rallying sign among the people that they could stand up to their government so long as they all banded together and became an umbrella themselves -- an umbrella for Hong Kong against the crooked dealings of a government trailing to railroad the city into a posture that the people did not want to accept. The image was a strong one even as the umbrella itself is not a very strong device, as it is just made of wire and fabric and could easily be destroyed. But its message is strong, and when shown in artistic photographs such as the one of the Umbrella Man or the picture of the Umbrella Man in front of the tanks (which is a cartoon image and not a photograph), it displays a message of hope -- that not all is lost so long as people like this are willing to get into the streets and demonstrate for the whole world to see.

Thus, this art is important on a social and a political level, as it seeks to unite people and to spread knowledge about an event -- namely, the political activities of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments and what is going on between the two and how the people of Hong Kong are being impacted as a result. This was an important development in Hong Kong that began in 2014 and continues on even today, with other artists climbing on board to use the Umbrella as an image of the spirit of protest against government corruption. Various works of art are still being created and displayed in Hong Kong's streets, such as statues of the Umbrella Man, stickers and umbrella origami left hanging near staircases as well as other images on lawns, with banners and umbrellas and floats and all sorts of artistic spectacles centered on the Umbrella motif.[footnoteRef:4] As the people realize, the image of the Umbrella Man is very meaningful for them because it represents something organic and local -- something from their own community that they do not have to share with others: it is a part of their cultural identity and something they can be proud of. Just as dissenters in China could rally behind the Tank Man image for so many years, the Umbrella Man is an image that people in Hong Kong can put forward as a symbol of their own attitudes and beliefs and willingness to act and confront the government. [4: Vivienne Chow, Phila Siu, "Creative awakening sparked by Occupy Central as sit-ins reclaim streets," SCMP, accessed 6 May 2016 from http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1610547/occupys-umbrella-statue-symbol-peace-says-artist?page=all]

Many young people in Hong Kong are also joining the protest, such as students who identify with the youthful….....

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