Underground

Born and brought up in Iran, I have always witnessed lack of freedom of expression in social, cultural and political matters; and how people have used different means of manifestation to shout out their beliefs and mentality regarding the society in which they live. These social movements have always been unpleasant for a certain group who surprisingly are the most powerful in terms of "control". 

When Mahtab and I were exploring Hong Kong to get an understanding of its artistic and social domain, we came up with an underground group of artists. They were three artists in their 20s, each with a certain field of interest, but all have a common concern about the Chinese society and how it is governed. One of them was a graffiti artist who has chosen tattooing as a financial support for his main interest, with his studio based in an industrial building in Kwun Tong district. The reason he and some fellow artists have chosen this area is the cheap rents and of course being remote and inaccessible as the nature of underground art asks for. 

As we talked more about the social aspects of their art, we all felt a common sense about our backgrounds, situation and hopes. We are all the young generation from developing countries with dictatorial systems, who are wide-awake about the global village and can no more be tricked and kept silent. The interesting thing about this fact is that no matter which country we are from, we have all chosen to object and manifest through art. It is at this point that the boundaries disappear.

After leaving their studio, I was experiencing a feeling of pleasance and grief at the same time. Why we are always being controlled in our societies; and what a hopeful movement towards our goals! 

graffiti in the industrial district

Kwun Tong

the studio