NEONSIGNS.HK
21.03.2014 to 30.06.2014
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NEONSIGNS.HK
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Since 1977, the Sammy’s Kitchen neon cow has presided over Queen’s Road West in Sai Ying Pun. Due to its size, the owners have been ordered to dismantle the sign, and it will subsequently enter the M+ permanent collection.
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Dating to 1976, the Kai Kee Mahjong neon rooster in Kwun Tong once overlooked Yue Man Square. Redevelopment of the area prompted its removal, and it was donated by Kai Kee to the M+ collection.
Image Courtesy, Living in Kwun Tong
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In the 1970s, the Millie’s Centre anchored the corner of Nathan and Jordan Roads.
Image Courtesy, Dusty Sprengnagel
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The Chinese Palace nightclub was once located on Nathan Road in the Jordan district.
Image source: Frank Costantini and Kirk Kirkpatrick, ‘Hong Kong Sign Book, South China Morning Post Limited (1981),p.74
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Running across the entire width of its façade, the Victory Mahjong neon sign in Yau Ma Tei offers an architectural expression of animated “running neons.”
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The neon signs of the Tsui Wah restaurants are all seemingly identical, but each differs slightly from the others. The sign on the Parkes Street location incorporates a neon cup of milk tea.
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The Tai Lin electric appliance store in Jordan closed in 2008, but its remarkable 5-storey neon signboard survives.
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The process of neon glass bending is featured in “The Making of Neon Signs,” a specially-commissioned video produced for “Mobile M+: NEONSIGNS.HK”
About “Mobile M+: NEONSIGNS.HK”
Presented by M+, Hong Kong’s museum for visual culture, NEONSIGNS.HK is an interactive, online exhibition dedicated to exploring, mapping and documenting Hong Kong’s neon signs. The seventh in the Mobile M+ exhibition series, NEONSIGNS.HK invites the public to post images and stories of their favourite neon signs to its Neon Map, and to rediscover these compelling features of the city’s streetscapes from the perspectives of design and urbanism, visual art, cinema, literature and popular culture.
Alongside curatorially-produced essays, videos, slideshows and artist commissions, over 4,000 photos were submitted by the public from 21 March to 30 June 2014 to collectively create a unique neon map of Hong Kong. The site will remain as a lasting record and examination of Hong Kong's fast disappearing neon signs.
NEONSIGNS.HK has expanded its platforms through a partnership with the Google Cultural Institute. Using new and existing content, two specially-curated online exhibitions offer further ways of looking at the visual culture of Hong Kong’s neon signs, as well as their past and present. The two exhibits include night-time Google Street Views, before-and-after images of Hong Kong’s neon-lit streets, and a unique series of panoramic night shots of the city. Visit the two exhibits ‘Electric City - The Neons of Hong Kong’ and ‘Hong Kong’s Neon Signs - Then and Now’ on GCI now.