What Can Arts do when Freedom is at Stake? Hongkongers’ Cultural Resistance in Authoritarian Times

"There’s No Art without Freedom” – this slogan by anonymous guerrilla artists appeared at Art Basel Hong Kong in May 2021. It aimed to remind attendees that such an international art fair was happening in a city that has essentially lost its freedom of expression after the introduction of the National Security Law. However, this panel argues that Art is precisely what we need and a vital tool of resistance in times of political repression. This panel brings together diasporic Hongkongers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds who wear different hats as artist, activist and scholar, to focus attention on the praxis of cultural resistance in the Hong Kong context since 2019. We define arts in the broadest terms, from visual arts and narratives through to performances and exhibitions. We are interested in having a conversation that would shed light on how myriad cultural forms can present opposition and defiance to political repression in the Hongkonger context. Scholar-activist Mandy Lee, a health sociologist, is interested in the link between resilience and resistance. She will present findings from her collaborative artful inquiry research focused on Hong Kong since 2019, where textual and visual narratives from community members represent both communal healing and cultural resistance in expressions of Hongkonger identity and in articulating their lived experiences of repression. Artist and scholar in art and design, Sing Hang Tam will examine the role of art in activism, focusing on how artistic practices contribute to the (re)imagination of Hong Kong nationhood through the expression of cultural identity and the construction of a shared democratic imaginary. He advances the concept of art-centric democracy, a framework that positions artistic practice as integral to democratic life. Artist, activist, and founder of NGO DEI, Loretta Lau will discuss her experience sustaining artistic activism in Hong Kong, with particular emphasis on the transition from individual artistic practice to cultivating a strategic human network. She frames art not merely as creative expression, but as a tool for community-building and fostering solidarity, highlighting its role in facilitating collective engagement and social cohesion. Emerging scholar Lesley Cheung will discuss curatorial practice as a form of postcolonial resistance. She will examine how a constellation of exhibitions, symposia and performances, organised by independent curators from Hong Kong, mediates postcolonial discourses of conflict and resistance through the language of modern and contemporary art, and facilitates discursive formation of transnational identity and cultural diplomacy in a stateless diaspora.