Ten years after the success of its first visit, the giant yellow duck, a work by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman that has become a symbol of peace, returned to Hong Kong Bay on Friday, this time with its twin brother.
“In times of pandemics and political tensions, I think it’s the right time for luck to return,” as if “two ducks are twice as lucky,” said Florentijn Hofman, presenting his floating installation of two 18-meter-tall inflatables ducks .
Dubbed ‘Double Ducks’, it will be based at the port opposite the Central Financial District in the heart of Hong Kong Bay for two weeks.
It will be “twice as much fun, twice as much luck,” said the 46-year-old artist in a press release, who makes sure that “friendship and making connections are at the forefront” in his work.
On his first visit to Hong Kong in 2013, when he came alone, he caused a stir as far away as Beijing, when internet users hijacked the famous photo of the “man in a tank” from Tiananmen Square exchanging tanks. . with ducks.
The photo of this lone man trying to stop a column of armored vehicles has become a symbol of the bloody repression of the June 4, 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing.
Every year for more than 30 years, thousands of people have gathered in Victoria Park in central Hong Kong for a candlelight vigil to commemorate the more than 1,000 peaceful protesters who were shot dead that day.
But since Beijing enacted a national security law for Hong Kong in 2020, authorities have put a stop to such gatherings. On June 3, the eve of the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen events, Hong Kong police preemptively arrested several artists and performers in the busy Causeway Bay area.
As this year’s anniversary approaches, authorities have repeatedly refused to confirm whether public commemoration of the event is illegal, saying only that “everyone should act in accordance with the law.”