Meet Hong Kong’s ‘Flower Granny’ artist, 92 – likened to Yayoi Kusama – for whom the world is her canvas
- Fapopo started painting at 80 and now her colourful flower and animal motifs adorn thousands of everyday objects
- Her most recent solo exhibition was held around a year ago, while a snapshot of her work is currently on show at The Park Lane Hong Kong hotel in Causeway Bay
Cocooned in warm layers, a pink beanie sealing in the heat, Fapopo – Hong Kong’s “Flower Granny” – dips a well-worn brush into a pot of paint.
A pair of black boots, owned by this writer, is about to be embellished with her signature look.
“I will paint pink flowers on them just like my shoes,” she says, pointing a brush at her own customised footwear.
At 92 years old, Fapopo – literally “flower granny” in Cantonese – is proof that you are never too old to pursue your dreams.
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Never too old to start: Hong Kong’s ‘Flower Granny’ creates heart-warming art at age 92
Fapopo, who will not disclose her real name, started painting at 80, the age she retired from selling flowers at the Mong Kok Flower Market in Kowloon, a job the flower-lover had held since her mid-twenties.
On a recent visit to Fapopo’s village home in Sai Kung district, in Hong Kong’s New Territories, it is clear that her love affair continues. “I spend my whole time thanking flowers,” she says.
