A street art installation appeared in Causeway Bay on Tuesday night festooned the words “Where are they?”
Entitled “Five Missing Men,” the installation is a response to the recent disappearance of five people connected to a nearby bookstore specialising in titles critical of China’s ruling Communist Party.
Co-owner Lee Bo, who went missing on December 30, is suspected of having been abducted by Chinese security forces in Hong Kong.
［五個失蹤的人 Five missing men］5-1-2016 1:35pm在銅鑼灣崇光門口斑馬線的安全島上。 這次五位失蹤人士的事件已正正擾亂了我們常見的生活秩序及一路相信的價值觀，我們無法及不應視而不見。作品放置在斑馬線的安全島上，是希望經過的途人能親身意識到日常生活的秩序被打亂，不應在視而不見，正常的日常生活已經不再正常，我們應該正視這一次事件。當我地聽到用自己方法離開之後，更加要諗下點樣可以用自己方法留低，一起生活
Posted by 社區藝術試點 Community Art-boratory on Monday, 4 January 2016
The artist behind “Five Missing Men” told HKFP that the incident was “twisted” and “crazy,” adding that the installation was intended to block the road just as the incident itself has affected people’s daily lives.
“This incident of the five missing people has disturbed our common order of life and the values that we believe in. We cannot and should not turn a blind eye to this,” he wrote on Facebook. “Normal daily life is not normal any more.”
Most people saw the installation but gave no immediate reaction, the artist said, which had been his expectation. Although most people knew about the missing booksellers, their responses have remained online only, he said.
In creating this work, the artist said he hoped to inspire people to reflect on what actions they could take, as people have “the responsibility to do something.”
