Simon Birch
Painter and multimedia artist Simon Birch has been based in Hong Kong since 1997. Over the years, he’s risen to the top of the local arts scene. He tells Andrea Lo about how government bans led to his career as an artist, surviving cancer, and responds to reports that he is leaving Hong Kong for good.

I grew up in the Midlands in England, about 100 miles north of London.
I think of myself as poly-cultural. I’m English but I’m not really English. My dad is Armenian and my mum is Polish. I’ve been living in Hong Kong most of my adult life.
I left home when I was 16. It was the birth of rave music culture in England. I was swept up in that.
Up until that point, football hooligan culture was one of the biggest movements in the UK. When rave culture and ecstasy came along, it all changed. All the people who were smashing your face in a couple of weeks ago were suddenly hugging you on the dance floor.
I made poor decisions. I started a club night and messed it up. I ended up broke.
I decided to leave England. I got a really cheap ticket that had 10 stops along the way. I eventually ended up in Australia, where I became a keen surfer and rock climber. I stayed for a few years.