‘I thought about Bruce Lee’: how Hong Kong artists in Britain struggled to feel from afar the pulse of their home city, and to represent it

A dance trio often invoke Hong Kong’s identity as a central theme of their art; their latest work combines cart noodles and game shows they watched growing up

An illustrator who sketched Hong Kong scenes to preserve collective memories continued the practice when she moved to London, drawing fish market stallholders

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John Chan Yuen-cheung, Shum Pui-yung, and Ghost Chan Hon-kit (left to right) make up dance trio ShumGhostJohn. Their game show, Cart Noodle Show, is a piece of work that helps them stay connected with their home city. Photo: ShumGhostJohn

Published: 5:15pm, 27 Mar 2021Updated: 8:43am, 29 Mar 2021

After a year studying dance in Britain, contemporary dance trio ShumGhostJohn flew back to Hong Kong when in-person classes were suspended because of the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020.

The next six months in Hong Kong gave them a chance to feel the pulse of an arts scene they had never truly known – and they discovered it had not escaped the political upheaval that had gripped the city for months.

“Everyone’s stance towards what an artist is, what their responsibility towards society is, the role that art plays – it all changed a lot, especially after the implementation of the national security law,” says one member of the trio, John Chan Yuen-cheung, 25.

The three dancers – John Chan, 30-year-old Ghost Chan Hon-kit, and Shum Pui-yung, 25 – are among a number of Hong Kong-born artists who have found success in the British arts scene in recent years. This is despite the barriers historically experienced by East Asian artists and many instances of discrimination. Still, although they now work abroad, they try to stay connected with their home city.

ShumGhostJohn frequently invoke Hong Kong’s identity as a central theme in their work. Photo: ShumGhostJohn

After they enrolled in a graduate programme at the London Contemporary Dance School in late 2018, the trio kept up with news in Hong Kong through conversations with friends and family, as well as social media.

But this observing from afar was like looking at the city through a fragmented, “telescopic lens”, says John Chan. “There was this thing that was lacking. It was just impossible to have an accurate grasp of the texture of the city.”