“All Day All Night RE HK” showcases art of making signboards

The Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA) is committed to connecting the University with the local community through a variety of art programmes, events and research projects. The Visual Arts Education and Community Development Project (VAECD) is one of CCA’s initiatives to provide students with the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge in art to represent and present local culture to the general public.

In 2021, we organised the “All Day All Night RE HK” project where CCA students had a chance to understand the works of four famous local signboard artists. Following the advice from these signboard designers, CCA students created signboards and led students from two participating secondary schools to create signboards with characteristics of Hong Kong’s popular culture. An exhibition was held at the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity between 14 and 19 August to showcase the artworks produced by them.

As part of the project, CCA students visited various local signboard artists to learn how to make traditional signboards in March and April. One such local artist was neon light board maker Master Wu Chi-kai, one of the few neon sign makers still active in Hong Kong. Through the visit, our students understood more about how neon light signboards are used by companies to advertise their products and services.

Our students also went to North Point to pay a visit to Master Au Yeung Cheong of King Wah Signboard, who is a well-known master in Chinese calligraphy and dubbed as Hong Kong’s “King of commercial calligraphy”. Master Au Yeung writes the characters on a paper stencil before turning the characters into signboards.

In Yau Ma Tei, CCA students met Master Wu of Kam Hing Signboard, who showed them how to use soldering to make three-dimensional signboards. In the same district of Yau Ma Tei, they also had the chance to meet Master Kwok of Kwok Kee Wood Sculpture. Master Kwok has been using woodcarvings to make golden lacquered signboards for four decades. At the shop, students were amazed by the many wood sculptures made by Master Kwok for local temples and religious festivals, as well as worship tablets for household altars.

The VAECD is a community-centered initiative to share the joy of art creation with the public. CCA students used the techniques they learnt from the signboard masters to produce their own signboards. They also went to Lai Chack Middle School and Yan Chai Hospital Wong Wha San Secondary School to teach their students about signboard art.

The final part of the “All Day All Night RE HK” project was an exhibition held at HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity. Milki Wong Kwok-yu, a second-year student of the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Arts and Culture and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Visual Arts) Co-terminal Double Degree programme, was the project coordinator. She said the double degree programme encourages CCA students to use their own creativity to promote local culture and art.

“The team learnt a lot from organising the project. It was truly exciting to have the opportunity to learn more about the craftmanship of signboard making, and to promote this traditional artform through cooperation with the two participating secondary schools and the final exhibition.” The project team was delighted to discover that many citizens were interested in the exhibition; visitors appreciated the team’s efforts that reminded them of the old days in Hong Kong.

CCA will continue to organise different types of community projects to bring art closer to the community. These projects also provide a valuable opportunity to our students to understand how art is used in our daily life for educational, cultural and business purposes.