The art that Hong Kong people really love: the big yellow duck that came back from the dead (picture)

The art that Hong Kong people really love: the big yellow duck that came back from the dead (picture) Hong Kong Date The following is an art-related news that ordinary Hong Kong residents are most concerned about this week...

Hong Kong Date The following is an art-related news that ordinary Hong Kong residents are most concerned about this week: the giant plastic duck "Big Yellow Duck" is resurrected.

The billionaire collector may have arrived for the opening of Art Basel Hong Kong, the Swiss fair's first foray into Asia. Galleries and celebrities probably popped open thousands of bottles of champagne to celebrate the art-themed event.

But to many of Hong Kong's 7 million residents, the Picasso auction and VIP lounge are like another world. Their main concern is "Spreading Joy Around the World," a "little yellow duck" created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. A favorite childhood bathtub toy, a six-story-tall duck was floated in the Hong Kong River earlier this month for what is unofficially known as Hong Kong Art Week. Although Art Week is centered around annual art exhibitions, it is also the time of year when Hong Kong showcases its best cultural works and events.

Several large-scale inflatable art works have appeared above public spaces, reflecting an irreverent, weird and critical side of Hong Kong that might not appear in the more conservative settings of art exhibitions.

When the big yellow duck made its debut on May 2, thousands of people gathered on the riverside to watch. Since then, countless duck-related products have appeared in stores and restaurants. Teenagers are wearing yellow duck suits, and tourist kiosks are selling yellow duck postcards. Even at the 200-year-old Cheung Chau Tai Ping Jiao Festival held on a distant island, the smiling face of the big yellow duck can be seen.

Hong Kong's major English-language newspaper "South China Morning Post" has published no less than 19 reports, comments and blog posts on the big yellow duck. One of the editorials, "Giant Rubber Duck has United the City," pointed out that the duck is more inspiring to Hong Kong people than the government's recent efforts to boost morale.

Netizens had a lot of fun, using the smiling faces of big yellow ducks to make political comments. “The People’s Liberation Army’s biggest nightmare,” someone wrote under an image of a large yellow duck approaching other ships, referring to an unpopular government plan to repurpose a newly reclaimed beachfront for military use to the People’s Liberation Army. (People initially thought the area would be used for a park or pedestrian walkway).

On May 15, what surprised the audience was that the big yellow duck tilted and fell on its own bill, then slowly leaked air and finally turned into a bright yellow puddle. Another Hong Kong newspaper, The Standard, described the public reaction as "very frustrating".

The death of the duck illustrates the anxiety in the city: One blogger speculated that the duck might have been killed by lung disease caused by the Pearl River Delta's notoriously bad air pollution. Pictures of big yellow ducks wearing masks began to go viral on the Internet. Masks were widely seen during the SARS crisis in 2003. Others speculated whether the ducks died from a deadly new strain of bird flu discovered in China. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong discovered that the virus can be transmitted to pigs through the air, a finding published in the journal Science.

There are rumors that the big yellow duck was killed by mainland tourists. Hong Kong welcomes the purchasing power of mainland tourists but criticizes their impolite behavior. This rumor is so popular that China's state-run media CCTV felt the need to clarify:

"Today there are rumors that Hong Kong's big yellow duck was 'burned to death' by tourists from Shenyang throwing 30 cigarette butts. Today Hong Kong confirmed that the big yellow duck was not man-made damage. The frustration is due to the organizers conducting a routine physical examination of the big yellow duck."

Yet on Tuesday night, the eve of the opening of Art Basel, perhaps Hong Kong's biggest art event in recent years, the re-inflated duck made a stunning reappearance to the cheers of hundreds of onlookers.

Despite the efforts of Art Basel and the local government, the imagination of Hong Kong people was captured by an installation art display organized by a local shopping mall.

>New York Times Chinese website Translator: Tao Mengying