Wednesday 1 February 2017

"Straight from the Fragrant Harbour"

"Straight from the Fragrant Harbour"


Trading ship scene
acrylic on canvas

Its been a month since yours truly had visited the "Fragrant Harbour" named Hong Kong.

Known for its bustling scenery, Hong Kong continues to be a trade and commercial hotspot in the Asian region, as various establishments has made China's special administrative region well known for.

However, for this person, Hong Kong's legacy as a trade entrepôt is a legacy brought upon by History. Especially during its early period as a British Crown Colony, that the once barren rock with few inhabitants became a place to deal with trade, both westerner and Asiatic, British or Chinese, creating a fusion of both Europan and Oriental settings as Clippers and Junks shown together in its deep watered shores.

That somehow made this person painted it instead of familiar ones. Maybe because he loved history so much that he conveyed it through the canvas during his painting sessions. And in featuring both two trading ships from both east and west showed how the once barren island been first known: as a trade entrepôt, and being a trade entrepôt means a showcase or even a fusion of both cultures that made the so-called "Fragrant Harbour" known as such.

"A continuing legacy"
(Inspired from the old Hong Kong coat of arms)
Acrylic on Canvas

Harbour scene near Lan Tau
Acrylic on Canvas

Admittingly speaking, painting these works is a product of both journeys be it through reading books and in wandering the streets of Kowloon and Victoria. Inspiring since in remembering a centuries-old heritage one would say that Hong Kong's life as a well known trade entrepôt was started with few inhbitants, a hilly terrain, and a deep water port that made Britons and westerners having a good trading area in the orient, besides those of Singapore or even Manila.

And perhaps with a fusion of Chinese entrepreneurship and British-style administrative work, of British-style settings and Chinese-style sensibilities, it made Hong Kong really "Hong Kong" that until today it continues to prevail.