‘No trace’: Dissident artist told his work has been removed from Hong Kong billboard

An artwork by dissident artist Badiucao created to test freedom of speech in Hong Kong appears to have been removed.

Here and Now is a four-second video work by the Shanghai-born, Australia-based, Walkley award-winning artist, who is also a contributor to this masthead. It had been showing hourly on two billboards in Hong Kong’s busy Mong Kok district, but Badiucao said he has been informed by multiple groups of people who visited both sites that “there is no trace of my video showing any more”.

Badiucao’s Here and Now work in Hong Kong.

The clip, which has no audio or caption, shows the artist silently speaking the words “You must take part in revolution”. The video had been showing as part of an outdoor exhibition titled Luminescence, commissioned by digital gallery Art Innovation.

Hours before the work’s apparent removal, the artist had released a video and statement revealing its true intent, telling this masthead that Here and Now was a “test for the freedom-of-speech situation in Hong Kong”. He had expected that the work would be taken down in response to his revelation.

“I think it’s expected, given my international profile,” he explains. “I think regardless of what the work is, once the Hong Kong authorities know that it is a work from me, that display [being] in a public space probably is enough for them to trigger a response and censor the work in one form or another.”

The artist believes that the entire Luminescence display has been taken down, but said: “I haven’t received any formal notice about the work no longer displaying.”

The work had been on display since March 28 and was due to finish on April 3. The artist has been informed by multiple groups that the work hasn’t been seen since 11am on Wednesday, Hong Kong time. Art Innovation has been contacted for comment.

Badiucao has consistently attracted controversy and threats for his body of work, which is critical of mainland China and its policies. “You must take part in revolution,” which is a quote from Mao Zedong as well as the title of Badiucao’s recently released graphic novel, is a pointed choice of words by the artist in a city where popular protest slogan “revolution of our times” has been banned.

Freedom of speech and protest is a significant issue in Hong Kong. After the 2020 implementation of the National Security Law, hundreds of people have been arrested under the banner of “secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion”, including former legislators and pro-democracy protesters.

The founder of the shuttered newspaper Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, is one of the highest-profile figures to have been charged under the law. The 77-year-old is being held in solitary confinement as his trial continues. Journalists have also come under attack via a separate law targeting “sedition”.

Badiucao says he hopes, despite the work’s removal, that Here and Now shows it is possible to infiltrate an authoritarian system, and that there is “hope and desire for freedom, where currently this city and this government is taking away from people”.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise for anyone who really knows my practice and understands the repression or repressive situation in Hong Kong.”

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