Yip Kin Bon's Exhibition Critiques Hong Kong's Political Discourse Through Textual Erasure

Hong Kong artist Yip Kin Bon created works responding to political rhetoric, notably a 2013 speech by Qiao Xiaoyang, then-chairman of the Hong Kong SAR Basic Law Committee, who emphasized that future Hong Kong leaders must love both the country and Hong Kong. In his exhibition, Yip presented Blank (2014), a newspaper rack with pages stripped of all words, leaving delicate paper remnants, and another framed page displaying only the phrase 'I'm a Hongkonger.' The show, titled 'Almost black, the white terror / Almost White, the black humour,' included Stuck in There (2014), photographic collages depicting people on Hong Kong streets as if bound by urban elements. Speech from Qiao Xiao Yang, 24 March 2013 (2013–14) comprised 250 newspaper clippings in plastic bags, isolating Cantonese characters and political figures. The exhibition ran during late-September demonstrations in Hong Kong, with Chinese media restricting image dissemination. Yip's work highlights self-censorship and linguistic traps in Hong Kong's identity, as reviewed in ArtReview Asia's Spring 2015 issue.