What do signboards mean to Hong Kong and you?
The government recently announced a campaign to beautify the cityscape that includes the repair or removal of at least 1,700 signboards. Signboards are rapidly vanishing from the streets of Hong Kong, due to a new regulation which considered most of the existing signboards as illegal structures. While a validation scheme is in place to assess individual signboards’ worthiness to remain on the streets, the scheme does not take into account the signboards’ historic, cultural and aesthetic values.
The After Seventeen Days project proposes a signboard evaluation system similar to the evaluation of historic buildings, to determine which signboards should stay or go based on a set of criteria. A field of 17 signboards presently hung in the streets around Hong Kong will be enacted in a dark room. During the exhibition period, one signboard will be selected daily for the signboard evaluation system featuring a physical ‘keep or trash’ button on-site and an online questionnaire to record the visitors’ preferences.
Visitors will have their say to decide the fate of every signboard, and signboards destined to disappear will be veiled by a green net at the end of each day – symbolising the signboards’ impending departure. At the finale of deTour 2022, After Seventeen Days will visualise the public’s views on signboard culture and the subject’s perceived value to our city.
