when I feel down I take a train to the Happy Valley

One of the most density populated city in the world, Hong Kong is a place of strong contrasts; a claustrophobic urban environment surrounded by water and uncontained nature, where the cost of housing is high and socio-economical inequalities are ever growing. Occasionally, while walking in the city, you could spot a tram go past; its destination sign reading “Happy Valley”, its terminal stop.
In those moments, when you feel the weight of the city on your shoulders, I like to imagine that it does offer a sense of hope.I moved to Hong Kong in 2014. The two major events of its recent history, the Umbrella revolution (2014) and Hong Kong protests (2019) , while gaining global media attention, have contributed to further divide public opinion deepening Hong Kong enduring identity crisis.During these seven years, with the aid of visual metaphors, I have analysed my own relationship with the city, with the intent of drawing a portraiture of Hong Kong and its complex and multilayered realities.