Simon Birch, 17 years in Hong Kong, is taking his talents elsewhere because of red tape over exhibition spaces
Simon Birch, fed up with Hong Kong's red tape, has taken his latest project to New York, writes Enid Tsui
Simon Birch is disappointed with Hong Kong. His home since 1997 is no longer a place where he can make art and he has had enough.
"Well, I am planning to leave because Hong Kong sucks. The government has no vision. It has become more and more rigid. I've been pushing very hard on a number of projects and they've all been met with disappointment," he says.
I wouldn't be here if not for Hong Kong. Hong Kong made me and I'll always for grateful for that. But now, the city is a nightmare
Hong Kong has never been known for its nurturing environment for artists, but it seems contrarian to pack up this minute. After all, he endured - and thrived, in fact - during all those years when local visual artists were as visible as Lion Rock on a polluted day. Wouldn't he want to hang around for the unprecedented boom that is supposedly turning this city into Asia's art hub?
It is possible that when the multi-billion-dollar West Kowloon Cultural District is built, it will "magically" transform Hong Kong - but Birch is not holding his breath.
The artist remembers the bright-eyed lad who came here from Britain and found a land of opportunity. Like many before him, he came because of work: as a DJ and a builder, including a small role in the construction of the Tsing Ma Bridge. He had left home when he was about 17, shortly after his parents divorced, and was used to scraping a living.
Hong Kong was in the midst of a historic transformation from British colony to Chinese territory. Birch found the city welcoming, with a "fluid" environment where everything was possible. But fast-forward a decade or so and he realised that wasn't really the case.
