A Hong Kong artist’s stall at an illustration art fair has closed after police officers reportedly received complaints, photographed the displayed drawings, and passed them to national security police.
The illustrator, known by the artist name Ah Keung, said in a now-deleted Instagram post that police officers took photos of their booth at the Hong Kong Illustration and Creative Show, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, on Saturday.
“The police dutifully took photos of all the artworks at the stall and passed them to the national security department for record,” the illustrator said.
According to Ah Keung’s post, the police arrived at the stall at around 5pm on Saturday, saying they had received a report from an “enthusiastic citizen.”
The police also told local media that they received a report that day and sent officers to the scene to investigate. They added that they would conduct follow-up investigations based on the evidence, actual circumstances, and details of the case, in accordance with the law.
HKFP has reached out to the organiser and the police for comment.
‘I still like Hong Kong’
Ah Keung also said on Instagram that Saturday’s incident was “unrelated to the organiser” and apologised for the trouble faced by the organiser and the exhibitors in neighbouring stalls.
“Finally, thank you to everyone who likes my drawings. I still like Hong Kong, but I hope this place will allow me to keep drawing,” the artist said.
The Instagram post shared a black-and-white photo of an empty booth marked with the stall number D25 and the exhibitor’s name in Chinese, “Keung Kee.” A search for the exhibitor’s name and the stall number yields no results on the fair’s exhibitor list.
In recent years, Ah Keung has produced “The Hong Kong Times,” hand-drawn, handwritten “newspaper pages” covering local news, including jailed barrister-activist Chow Hang-tung’s legal challenge against female inmates’ trousers-only rules in April.
The illustrations are available for sale on AsOne, a store owned by ex-district councillor Derek Chu. Independent media outlet HK Feature’s online shop also has a description of The Hong Kong Times on its website but does not list the products for sale.
“Anyone who has seen [my] newspaper would know that I just copy news from the major news outlets without any personal interpretation, and share local films and funny anecdotes, with no secessionist or seditious intention,” Ah Keung said.
“I’m just a person who likes history and drawing,” the artist added.
