Last week, as the planned, I sent the interview invitations to 3 KOLs I followed in Instagram/Red Book whose contents mainly focus on Hong Kong culture, and I have received one response so far. Below is the summary and analysis based on the interview.
The Interview with “hongkongmaper” was conducted via email. He provides valuable insights into how individuals are actively participating in the preservation and promotion of Hong Kong’s unique culture and subculture.
Who is HongKong Maper?
HongKongmaper is a 90s-born native of Hong Kong who is passionate about the city’s culture. As an individual, he started sharing content about Hong Kong’s unique culture and subculture on social media as a way to showcase and record the city’s transforming landscapes and evolving cultual identity with 43,000 followers now.
Why does he share content on Hong Kong Culture?
He believes that Hong Kong has a unique cultural mix and historical context that should be preserved and shared. His aim is to make more people aware of the city’s subculture and to document the changes that Hong Kong is going through.
*This grassroots level of cultural preservation can be incredibly effective in the digital age, where social media platform can reach a global auidence.
The Intersection of Hong Kong Subcultures and Hong Kong Cinema
Hong Kong Maper feels like subcultures are an integral part of any culture, acting as a mirror reflecting the state of society. He feels that Hong Kong films not only entertain but also serve as a chronicle of the city’s evolving culture. He also cited Hong Kong Director Wong Kar Wai’s films “Chungking Express” and “In the Mood for Love” as examples that depicting the urban romance and emotional complexities of Hong Kong.
Dynamic Nature of Culture
hongkongmaper’s optimism about the future of Hong Kong’s culture, despite its ongoing transformations, aligns with the idea that culture is not a static but a dynamic entity. This viewpoint is particularly vital in today’s globalized world, where cultures are constantly interacting and evolving. His perspective also resonates with Nicholas Mirzoeff’s theory ( advised by Zuleika during the tutorial) that culture is a living entity that evolves and builds upon itself.
Bamboo Scaffolding as a Subculture
I got a particular revelation of the concept of “bamboo scaffolding” as a representative of Hong Kong subculture, something that had never come up in my previous conversations with Hong Kong residents. ” Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction. In Hong Kong, skilled armies of scaffolders can erect enough bamboo to engulf a building in a day-even hours-using techniqus that are thousands of years old, and have been passed down through generations.” (Duhalde, 2022) This labor-intensive, traditional technique of construction is a fascinating juxtaposition of tradition and modernity, encapsulating the ever-changing but deeply rooted cultural landscape of Hong Kong.
https://multimedia.scmp.com/infographics/culture/article/3183200/bamboo-scaffolding/index.html
*This new knowledge emphasizes the importance of engaging in diverse conversations to get a fuller picture of my research subject.
Conclusion
The interview with “hongkongmaper” serves as a compelling case study on the role individuals can play in cultural preservation and education, especially in the age of social media. His insights inspire me in how I might frame my research questions and interventions around Hong Kong’s cinema and evolving culture and subcultures.