Artists fight to keep the neon lights on in Hong Kong Technological advancements and new regulations had led to buildings losing their trademark illuminations, leaving the city into the dark. Faced with a dwindling number of neon masters, there is a growing number of emergent creatives studying the craft and sharing their skills The defeat of China in the opium wars of the 19th century left the island of Hong Kong, including the Kowloon peninsula, the New Territories and the Outer Islands, under British colonial rule. So it remained until the night of June 30, 1997, when Hong Kong began a transition towards complete reintegration with China by 2047.
Until then, it is classified as a special administrative region of the Asian world power, a halfway step that has left its residents wondering about the future. They ponder just what their relationship with China will look like. Their uneasiness is justified.
In the decades that followed the handover, rights have been curtailed, the press limited and the people banned from demonstrating against various injustices. This dismantling has not been limited to political and social areas; it also applies to culture and memory. Tightening government regulations regarding the environment, light pollution, sizing, and safety measures have all led to one of Hong Kong’s local trademarks being extinguished: its famed neon signs .
The illuminating designs were largely concentrated in the Hong Kong of the collective imagination, which like a m.