Exhibition that explores the ‘silencing’ of Hong Kong’s youth comes to Manchester

A powerful exhibition that explores the ‘silencing’ of Hong Kong’s youth is coming to Manchester. Artist Martin Lever is bringing his new collection ‘Silent Protest’ to the Northern Quarter’s SAAN1 Gallery this April in support of the human rights charity Hong Kong Watch.

The collection features paintings that depict young Hong Kongers standing in front of libraries, banks, classrooms, and courts with their mouths gagged by zips or covered by Chinese national flag face masks. The images are a metaphor for Hong Kong’s controversial National Security Law and intend to shine a spotlight on the growing deterioration of creative, press and political freedoms in the region.

Despite public opposition, the National Security Law was passed in July 2020 and criminalised 'subversion' and 'collusion' with foreign forces, including speaking with western journalists.

READ MORE: "I was shot at in a drive-by, robbed of £130,000 and targeted by gangsters"

Following the implementation of the law, which gave Beijing sweeping new powers over the semi-autonomous city, the UK introduced an immigration route for Hong Kongers with British National Overseas (BNO) status in January 2021.

Since then thousands of Hong Kongers have made Manchester their home. Martin said he wanted to bring his collection to the city region’s growing Hong Kong diaspora having previously held a show in London.

“At the show in London we had around 700 people come over three days and at least half of them were Hong Kong Chinese who have very recently moved to the UK. I met a lot of people who had left family in Hong Kong and some were part of organisations helping Hong Kongers who had recently moved to the UK and one of those was Trafford Hong Kongers, so I reached out to Trafford Hong Kongers and they were keen for me to bring the work to Manchester,” he said.

On the response the exhibition received in London, Martin said: "It was a lot more emotional than I thought it was going to be. Some of the conversations that I had were heartbreaking.

"People had left Hong Kong for many different reasons but primarily because they don’t want their children growing up in an environment where they can’t be free to express their own opinions."

Martin himself left Hong Kong in the wake of the security law and moved to North Yorkshire in 2022 after living and working in Hong Kong for more than 40 years.

Martin, who was born on the Wirral, first moved to the region with his family aged nine after his father got a job working at a housing authority in the city. He returned to the UK to attend Keele University and then later went back to Hong Kong to pursue a career in advertising before becoming a full-time artist.

Martin’s latest artwork is the first to explore politics. Discussing the inspiration behind the Silent Protest collection, Martin said he felt a duty as an artist to highlight the erosion of freedom of expression in Hong Kong.

He said: “As American artist Robert Rauschenburg said, ‘The artist’s job is to be witness to his time in history’. Because of the introduction of the National Security Law on 30 June 2020, Hong Kong fell silent. The fundamental changes to Hong Kong society that many human rights lawyers say has eroded the city’s freedoms is what I’m highlighting with ‘Silent Protest’.

“Prior to June 2020, I would have been able to exhibit this collection in Hong Kong, my hometown. But with the introduction of the National Security Law there is a danger of this artwork resulting in a charge of subversion. The law is deliberately ambiguous – which results in fear and leads to self-censorship. I grew up in a free Hong Kong society and it afforded me many creative opportunities. I cannot stay silent when many of those same freedoms are now denied to Hong Kongers, especially the next generation.”

Martin’s paintings are filled with quotes from Mao Zedong, the former Chinese communist leader and founder of the People's Republic of China, which Martin says ironically reflect what many young Hong Kong residents are now demanding.

“The idea was to capture the youth of Hong Kong with their mouths zipped, as they no longer have a voice, and to juxtapose that with the words of Mao Zedong. I’ve got one of Mao’s little red books that I bought in China many years ago and when you read some of his quotes ironically a lot of what he says is what the youth of Hong Kong were asking for. There’s some fairly powerful layers of hypocrisy there”, he said.

Martin acknowledges the exhibition risks him being banned from ever returning to Hong Kong.

“It may have implications for me but it’s a risk I’m prepared to take. If I got banned from returning to Hong Kong for painting some pictures it underlines why I’m doing it in the first place,” he said.

The exhibition will raise funds for Hong Kong Watch, a research and advocacy organisation focused on human rights in Hong Kong.

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong Watch, said: “We are delighted that Martin Lever is taking his important and hard-hitting show to Manchester, and are enormously grateful that he is supporting our work. His art is an extremely powerful reminder of the Hong Kong spirit and the ongoing fight for freedom for Hong Kong.”

Silent Protest is available to view from Friday, April 19 to Sunday, April 21.