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Video | ‘King of Kowloon’ Tsang Tsou-choi’s Hong Kong graffiti, once considered vandalism, now inspires visual artists
- Local art community breathes new life into Tsang’s work by scraping off lime from stone to uncover his art
- Tsang, who was born in mainland China but moved to Hong Kong, used the city’s walls, pillars and postboxes as his canvases
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‘King of Kowloon’: uncovering the work of late Hong Kong graffiti writer Tsang Tsou-choi
‘King of Kowloon’: uncovering the work of late Hong Kong graffiti writer Tsang Tsou-choi
Tsang Tsou-choi came to Hong Kong at the age of 16 and earned little working as a labourer. He began creating graffiti in the 1950s, writing in striking black fonts without punctuation.
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Armed with an eccentric streak, he started calling himself the “King of Kowloon” with his much-repeated claim of sovereignty over the area during the city’s days under British colonial rule.
From being branded vandalism to now being featured in Hong Kong’s visual culture museum M+, his texts are now being preserved by artists at the King of Kowloon Culture & Art Foundation.
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