{"id":64462,"date":"2026-06-28T17:13:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T09:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=64462"},"modified":"2026-06-28T17:13:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T09:13:59","slug":"hong-kong-lgbtq-community-gathers-for-pre-internet-era-art-show-despite-storm-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=64462","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong LGBTQ community gathers for pre-internet-era art show despite storm warning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Even as a black rainstorm warning kept much of Hong Kong indoors on the evening of June 18, an enthusiastic crowd packed into Tomorrow Maybe, the art space at the Eaton HK hotel, to celebrate the opening of \u201cOffline Memories: Hong Kong LGBTQ+ Archive of Printed Matter from the Pre-Internet Era\u201d.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Part of the hotel\u2019s Pride Month programming, the exhibition arrives at a divisive moment in Hong Kong regarding LGBTQ rights. In recent years, LGBTQ visibility and advocacy have faced significant setbacks, most notably with the effective banning of the annual <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Pink Dot<\/span> carnival following sudden venue withdrawals, and the Legislative Council\u2019s <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">overwhelming rejection<\/span> of a same-sex partnership bill despite a mandate from the city\u2019s top court.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The exhibition is also an invitation to consider the tangible human connections lost in the digital era. It reminds visitors of the physical spaces and printed materials that once anchored the <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">tongzhi<\/em> circle, <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">tongzhi<\/em> being a term appropriated from the Mandarin word for \u201ccomrade\u201d to refer to members of the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">At the heart of the exhibition is a monumental, multi-year exercise in preserving Hong Kong\u2019s LGBTQ history. A comprehensive digital archive, spearheaded by artist and scholar Anson Mak, is <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">accessible online for free<\/span> and to visitors through a dedicated computer terminal in the gallery space.<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Featured artist Anson Mak (left) and Eaton HK\u2019s director of culture Joseph Chen are pictured at the \u201cOffline Memories\u201d exhibition. Photo: Eaton HK\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/06\/26\/593c9d3b-71e6-4980-99ec-8065fdd9d11a_ead04105.jpg\" title=\"Featured artist Anson Mak (left) and Eaton HK\u2019s director of culture Joseph Chen are pictured at the \u201cOffline Memories\u201d exhibition. Photo: Eaton HK\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">Featured artist Anson Mak (left) and Eaton HK\u2019s director of culture Joseph Chen are pictured at the \u201cOffline Memories\u201d exhibition. Photo: Eaton HK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The walls are adorned with vintage zines, event fliers and rare photographs of pioneering activists that defined the pre-internet era. These pre-smartphone images are especially precious, as far fewer photos were taken back then. They capture the spirit of a community carving out an identity within the highly restrictive social environment preceding the shockingly late decriminalisation of homosexuality in Hong Kong in 1991.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/arts\/article\/3358487\/hong-kong-lgbtq-community-gathers-pre-internet-era-art-show-despite-storm-warning?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even as a black rainstorm warning kept much of Hong Kong indoors on the evening of June 18, an enthusiastic crowd packed into Tomorrow Maybe,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1501,4300,14937,3569,5231,16092,25569,616,8572,368],"class_list":["post-64462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-art","tag-community","tag-gathers","tag-hong","tag-kong","tag-lgbtq","tag-preinternetera","tag-show","tag-storm","tag-warning","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}