2023-06-09 18:18:06
Baptized “Double Ducks”, the work of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman floats once once more in Hong Kong Bay. During his first visit, in 2013, the duck which aims to “make people smile” had nevertheless caused a stir as far as Beijing, despite himself.
“In times of pandemics, political tensions, I think it’s the right time for luck to return”, as if “two ducks were twice as lucky”, said Florentijn Hofman in presenting his floating installation made up of two inflatable ducks 18 meters high.
The work “Double Ducks” (Double Duck) will be stationed for two weeks in the port, facing the Central financial district, in the heart of Hong Kong Bay.
It will be “twice as much fun, twice as much happiness”, underlined in a press release the 46-year-old artist, who assures that his work “emphasizes friendship and the creation of links”.
Launched for the first time in 2007 in France as part of a biennial of contemporary art, the big yellow bird then sailed on the waters of the whole world: Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, then recently in South Korea. South.
A duck making waves
During his first visit to Hong Kong in 2013, then came solo, the inflatable giant had caused a stir as far as Beijing, Internet users having at the time hijacked the famous photo of the “man in the tank” of the place Tiananmen by replacing tanks… with ducks.
The photo of this single man trying to stop a column of armored vehicles has become the symbol of the bloody repression of the pro-democracy demonstrations of June 4, 1989 in Beijing.
The Man from Tian’anmen, a famous photo taken by Jeff Widener on June 5, 1989. [Jeff Widener – Keystone/AP]
More public commemoration
For more than 30 years, thousands of people have gathered each year in Victoria Park in central Hong Kong for a candlelight vigil in memory of the more than 1,000 peaceful protesters who were shot dead that day.
But since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, authorities have put an end to such gatherings. On June 3, the eve of the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen events, Hong Kong police preemptively arrested several artists or performers in the bustling Causeway Bay district.
>> Read also: Tiananmen Massacre commemoration canceled in Hong Kong
As this year’s anniversary approached, authorities repeatedly refused to confirm whether public commemoration of the event was illegal, saying only that “everyone should act according to the law”.
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