Art as a Form of Companionship:
A Conversation with Wen Yau 

During COVID-19 many social movements got suppressed due to lockdowns, social distancing rules, and other containment measures. People have no longer been able to use protests to resist their governments’ increased authoritarianism. It is thus crucial to think about different forms of resisting when protests are rendered unsafe due to political reasons. Wen Yau is a Hong Kong artist who has dedicated a lot of her research in the use of art as a form of civil engagement and companionship. During our interview, Wen Yau mentioned that companionship has been a strong theme, a “key concern” for those who have decided to stay in Hong Kong. In particular, she highlighted that “companionship can be seen as a gift to each other”, because in times of oppression it is necessary to create safe spaces and support systems. For Wen Yau companionship means "being together and keeping a company," and it "means a lot to those who've decided to stay in an increasingly repressive situation or to leave and live as diasporas in other places and to those who are prosecuted too." In this paper, I will discuss my conversation with Wen Yau, which was about the power of art as a “commoning practice” of companionship and its contribution to community creation and civil engagement.​

One of the most important contributions to civil engagement are the yellow shops. Yellow shops are shops with pro-democracy owners, which often support the yellow economic circle by providing financial support to the protesters, and donating food and protection gear. During our interview, Wen Yau talked about artists and social activists who have opened their own yellow shops as an alternative way to engage with the community. In particular, she highlighted that yellow shops are "a special phenomenon in a highly commercialized society like Hong Kong, especially when protests are now severely suppressed.  Consumerism becomes a camouflage of resistance, and ethical consumption becomes a means of mutual support among like-minded people." An example of a yellow shop is Black Window, which runs as a co-op; it includes a veggie restaurant and a book corner where people can read books and organize small-scale exhibitions. The people who own Black Window were also involved in the “Occupy Central” (2011-2012) at the HSBC headquarters, resembling the Occupy Wall Street movement in the USA. This is why the way they run the restaurant is rooted in more anarchist beliefs and aims to create a community where people share similar beliefs around the Hong Kong political situation. Since their primary purpose is not to make money, they sometimes include options where people can pay as much as they can afford. Black Window also has some small-scale exhibitions in the shop to strengthen their community through art.

​However, yellow shops such as Black Window are often subject to intervention by the police in the name of pandemic control. In particular, the government is now strictly enforcing a previously little-enforced law passed during colonial times, which requires all exhibitions and venues to acquire a public entertainment license. As it takes a long time to receive the license most small scale spaces cannot stage exhibitions unless they are selling the art; therefore, they present it as a commercial project hosted at a private venue. Hence, even though yellow shops strive to continue their work in different dimensions, their way of operating can result in fines, or an earlier curfew for the shop limiting their ability to offer a space for companionship.

​In addition to the many yellow shops in Hong Kong, which use art to connect people, there are many independent artists and activists equally contributing to the movement. Anson Mak is an example of an artist using their work as a form of companionship. In particular, Anson Mak is a filmmaker who is concerned about the impact of Hong Kong’s socio-political situation on the mental health of the citizens. Her project "Mindfulness, Everyday-life, Art" aims to offer companionship as a form of a healing project, exploring how we can support each other during this precarious time. To achieve this, she collected the stories of eight artists who created mini documentary films about the notions of freedom, depression, anger, transformation, and healing among others. Through her website, she also offers free mental health resources including videos with mindfulness exercises, workshops around art therapy, and letter writing. Anson’s work, apart from being artistically intelligent, is a way to create community healing and connect people through art and mindfulness.

In conclusion, art during times of oppression can be regarded not only as a form of a cultural common, but also a form of civil engagement and community creation. Hong Kong artists have been striving to create spaces either in the city or internationally, emphasizing collective identity during times of political suppression.  Hong Kong artists have successfully provided alternative methods of protesting , including opening yellow shops to support the movement either financially or emotionally, hosting small-scale exhibitions, creating websites with documentaries and accessible mental health resources, and presenting their art in international galleries.