Study Buddy (Explorer): Meet Hong Kong’s ‘Flower Granny’ artist
- Fapopo started painting at 80 and now her colourful flower and animal motifs adorn thousands of everyday objects
- Each week, this page presents an interesting story that we have adjusted to be more accessible for all English learners
Hong Kong artist Fapopo pictured in her home in Sai Kung. Photo: HandoutContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Cocooned in warm layers, a pink beanie sealing in the heat, Fapopo – Hong Kong’s “Flower Granny” – dips a well-worn brush into a pot of paint. At 92 years old, Fapopo – literally “flower granny” in Cantonese – is proof that you are never too old to pursue your dreams.
[2] Fapopo, who will not disclose her real name, started painting at 80, the age she retired from selling flowers at the Mong Kok Flower Market in Kowloon, a job the flower-lover had held since her mid-twenties
[3] On a recent visit to Fapopo’s village home in Sai Kung district, in Hong Kong’s New Territories, it is clear that her love affair continues. “I spend my whole time thanking flowers,” she said. It’s a cold and grey winter’s day but here, Fapopo’s colourful motifs, mostly flowers and animals, brighten the cement walls and footpaths.
[4] What makes Fapopo’s art so special is she uses everyday household items as her canvases: chairs, tables, umbrellas, irons, rice cookers, woks, a toilet seat, a vacuum cleaner, with many pieces rescued from the rubbish. At her home, painted items are scattered far and wide – and high. Some even dangle from branches.
[5] A guitar and violin, recent donations from a neighbour, have also been decorated, but her pride and joy is a toy Ferrari, the luxury car maker’s prancing horse logo almost lost in Fapopo’s hand-painted garden.
[6] Born in Hong Kong, Fapopo grew up poor, forced to supplement her flower-market income by collecting and selling waste boxes. In Hong Kong, female senior citizens who collect and recycle cardboard and other scraps are affectionately nicknamed “cardboard grannies”.
[7] “During peak periods, the flower business was steady, but when it was quiet, Fapopo had to sell cardboard to support her family,” said Ruby Fung, owner of the 13A New Street Art Gallery in Sheung Wan. “While collecting cardboard, she would sometimes need to rest in a public toilet.” Fung is one of Fapopo’s biggest supporters. In January 2023, she hosted a solo exhibition of the artist’s work at her gallery.
[8] Titled “Dancing with Flower”, the exhibition featured more than 30 pieces, and the space was adapted to resemble Fapopo’s garden. “Her work is extraordinary, considered and thoughtful – very impressive for a self-taught artist,” Fung pointed out. She added that selecting art for the show was difficult: “After 10 years of painting, she had thousands of pieces.”
[9] While “Dancing with Flower” was Fapopo’s biggest exhibition, it was not her first. In 2014, her art was displayed at “The World of Fapopo” at the Citywalk shopping mall in Tsuen Wan. Those keen to see her work now can get a snapshot at “Art Beyond Boundaries”, an exhibition at The Park Lane Hong Kong hotel in Causeway Bay that runs until May 1.
Source: South China Morning Post, February 8
Questions
1. Paragraph 1 describes Fapopo …
A. gardening.
B. painting.
C. drawing.
D. selling flowers.
2. What did Fapopo do when she was younger?
3. What does the “love affair” in paragraph 3 refer to?
4. Which of the following does Fapopo create her artwork on according to paragraph 4?
A. furniture and household appliances
B. walls and floors
C. tree trunks and branches
D. old maps and newspapers
5. Find a phrase in paragraph 5 that refers to something that causes someone to feel very pleased and satisfied.
6. In paragraph 6, why did Fapopo have to collect and sell waste boxes according to paragraph 6?
7. How did Fung show her support for Fapopo according to paragraph 7?
8. Decide whether the following statements in paragraphs 7 and 8 are True, False or the Information is Not Given. (4 marks)
(i) Ruby Fung is the owner of a flower shop in Sheung Wan.
(ii) Fapopo had to sell cardboard during Lunar New Year when many people are buying flowers for their homes and as gifts.
(iii) Fapopo taught herself how to paint.
(iv) Fapopo took two weeks to decide which artworks to feature in the exhibition.
9. What is Fapopo’s latest exhibition called?
Answers
1. B
2. She sold flowers at the Mong Kok Flower Market in Kowloon.
3. Fapopo’s love for flowers (accept all similar answers)
4. A
5. pride and joy
6. It was because her income from selling flowers was not enough. (accept all similar
answers)
7. by hosting a solo exhibition of Fapopo’s work at her gallery
8. (i) F; (ii) F; (iii) T; (iv) NG
9. “Art Beyond Boundaries”