AT FIRST GLANCE, it looks like a stack of aluminium takeaway containers. But take a closer look and you see that the metre-high tinfoil tower is a sleek rendering of the HSBC headquarters in Central.
The piece by Britain-based Anthony Key is elegant and clever, giving a twist to something as common as Chinese take-away containers. A few simple lines etched diagonally on the edges replicate the support struts on the real HSBC building - and Key combines the everyday reality of the hundreds of thousands of Chinese migrants to Britain with a symbol of their aspirations.
Restaurants and takeaway shops are 'the way a lot of Chinese establish themselves' in Britain, says Key, who was born in South Africa to Chinese parents. 'It's still the only place where Chinese meet British on an everyday basis.'
Key's Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, is part of Arrivals and Departures: New Art Perceptions of Hong Kong, which opened at the Urbis gallery in Manchester last week. Billed as the first major exhibition on Hong Kong in Britain and timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the handover, the show features works from 10 Chinese artists, half from Britain and half from Hong Kong.
The show, which runs until March 11, features a wide range of works in formats including photographs, paintings, sketches, sound and video.
The exhibition aims to be an 'in-depth exploration and investigation of Hong Kong', its curators say. The artists have explored topics such as the changing relationship of Hongkongers to Britain since the handover. Using both British-born and Hong Kong-born artists presents a dual perspective.