mokfai contemporary art

來生都做香港人 (I Vow to be a Hongkonger in My Next Life)

原子筆、油彩 木板

30cm X 60cm @ (1 set of 3 pcs.)

2025， 香港

        在過去的一個世紀中，對「香港人」身份的認同需求是否仍具價值？尤其在中國大陸與香港之間，隨著地域的解構與重構，以及人口流動的背景下，這一問題值得深思。

此藝術作品採用圓珠筆在木板上創作，以橫向三聯畫的形式呈現。作品借鑒了傳統中國水墨山水畫的構圖策略及多重視角元素，邀請觀者透過作品所呈現的景觀展開一場視覺之旅。作品的空間佈局參照了北宋畫家范寬的《溪山行旅圖卷》形式。藉由使用這些經過調整的工具與材質，藝術家旨在突破傳統對「玩樂」與「優雅」的二分法，同時構建起文化、地理與時間的橋樑。

        在內容上，作品敘述了中國大陸在不同歷史時期移民至香港的三個故事，並透過人物、場景及地貌作為敘事手段。這些故事包括1970年代的都市傳說「辮子姑娘」、1980年代臭名昭著的罪犯葉繼歡（「省港奇兵」之一），以及當代現象——約16,000名跨境學生的情況。藝術家還借鑒了文人畫的傳統，通過幽默的文字題跋，戲謔性地確認了「香港人」身份的價值與意義。

      「香港人身份」的定義一直在歷史發展、政府人口政策、政治變遷及社會文化衝突的背景下不斷被重塑。二戰後及中華人民共和國成立後，20世紀50至60年代，中國大陸形成了農村公社，並爆發了廣泛的饑荒，導致大量難民湧入香港。對此，香港政府自1974年11月起實施「接觸政策」，直至1980年10月23日被更為嚴格的「立即拘捕與遣返」政策所取代，以應對人口激增的壓力。

       1997年回歸後，1999年「吳嘉玲」居留權案件標誌著全國人大常委會首次行使解釋《基本法》的權力。2003年SARS疫情之後，香港特別行政區政府與大陸簽署了「個人遊」計劃，導致大陸遊客人數激增。

        在過去十年中，香港與大陸的互動經歷了複雜且時常充滿爭議的轉變，這其中包括平行貿易的興起、來自社會運動的政治緊張升級、香港與大陸關係的惡化、內地學生在本地大學入學配額的穩步增長、跨境學童人口的擴大，以及針對大陸居民的優才引進計劃的拓展等。

        該藝術作品的創作背景正是在這一跨世代、持續演變的過程中，"香港人"這一身份的意義被不斷協商與重定義的語境下。

I Vow to be a Hongkonger in My Next Life

Ball pen, oil on wood board

30cm X 60cm @ (1 set of 3pcs.)

2025, Hong Kong

       Over the past century, does the necessity of seeking the identity of “Hongkonger” still valued? Especially amiding the deterritorialization and reterritorialization from territory connection and population mobility between mainland China and Hong Kong.

       The artwork is executed using ballpoint pen on wooden panels, presented in the format of a horizontal triptych. It appropriates compositional strategies and multiple-perspective elements from traditional Chinese ink landscape painting, inviting the viewer on a visual journey through its depicted scenery. The spatial arrangement references the scroll format of "Travelers Among Mountains and Streams" (金碧峰圖卷) by Northern Song dynasty painter Fan Kuan (范寛). By employing these altered tools and materials, the artist aims to disrupt the conventional dichotomy between playfulness and elegance, while simultaneously bridging cultural, geographical, and temporal divides.

       In terms of content, the piece narrates three distinct stories of mainland Chinese migration to Hong Kong across different historical periods, using figures, settings, and topographies as narrative devices. These include the urban legend of the "Braided-Hair Girl" (辮子姑娘) from the 1970s, the infamous 1980s criminal Yip Kai-foon (葉繼歡), one of those "Long Arm of the Law" (省港奇兵), and the contemporary phenomenon of approximately 16,000 cross-border students. In a further nod to literati painting traditions, the artist incorporates humorous textual inscriptions, playfully affirming the value and identity of being a "Hong Konger".

       The definition of "Hong Kong identity" has been continuously reshaped in response to historical developments, government population policies, political shifts, and socio-cultural disruptions. Following the Second World War and the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the 1950s and 1960s witnessed the formation of rural communes and the subsequent outbreak of widespread famine across mainland China. This led to a mass influx of refugees into Hong Kong. In response, the Hong Kong government implemented the “Touch Base” policy from November 1974 to October 1980, which was ultimately replaced on October 23 of the same year by the more stringent “immediate arrest and repatriation” policy, aimed at curbing the rapid rise in population.

        After the 1997 Handover, the 1999 "Ng Ka Ling" (吳嘉玲) right of abode case marked the first instance in which the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress exercised its authority to interpret the Basic Law. Following the SARS epidemic in 2003, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government signed the "Individual Visit Scheme" with the mainland, leading to a significant increase in the number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong. 

       Over the past decade, interactions between Hong Kong and the mainland have undergone complex and often contentious transformations. These include the rise of parallel trading, escalating political tensions stemming from social movements, the deterioration of Hong Kong–mainland relations, the steady increase in quotas for mainland students in local universities, the growing population of cross-border schoolchildren, and the expansion of talent admission schemes targeting mainland residents.

        The artwork was created against the backdrop of this evolving, cross-generational process in which the very meaning of being “Hong Konger” is perpetually negotiated and redefined.