Sunday, February 21, 2021

Something Good - Luca Barbareschi (2013) - Hong Kong's most prolific graffiti artist - Mr Yim Chiu-tong

I will finish the posts for the film on a capture taken some point in the middle of the movie as Matteo walks through one of Hong Kong's many back alleyways. It's a location that is too difficult to pin down but I though it was interesting to share because it features some graffiti on a wall that will be familiar to anyone who has been in Hong Kong over the past 15 years or so.

The graffiti (通渠 92263203 免棚) has been done by a plumber, Mr Yim Chiu-tong, who simply leaves his number and services on what must now be thousands of locations all over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. You can be out on a hike somewhere fairly difficult to reach and just towards the end as you descend back into civilisation, there on the roadside is Mr Yim's recognisable calling card. This guy's handiwork is everywhere.

I recall Chris Dewolf wrote an article about him on his Urban Photo blog several years ago. Sadly the blog appears to have been removed but good old Mr Dewolf appears to be moving some of its content over to Zolima City Mag where he has written many great pieces on local history and culture. Coincidentally, he has redone/rewritten his article about Mr Yim and it can be seen here: https://zolimacitymag.com/meet-plumber-king-hong-kong-unexpected-graffiti-icon/.

I've been keeping my eye out for a while to see if Mr Yim's painting efforts have ever made it into one of the more recent movies and am pleased to see that it has now been preserved in all of its celluloid digital glory.

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