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    currently on view at the abstract online gallery

    take a virtual tour of
    Samesame: Hong Kong Series 📍

    Samesame: Hong Kong Series is a 3-part exhibit featuring photographic & installation works by Lala Openi and MOMB. 

    SameSame: Hong Kong Series includes (1) a meta recreation of Hong Kong’s most famous lennon wall from the ongoing protests that started in 2019, (2) a prototype streetwear line designed to portray the way various aspects, or threads, of our identities as diasporic people in a contemporary landscape are worn, and (3) select photographs of moments shared with distant relatives, who’ve transcended time & space to take form as a familiar sight, smell, taste, or energy. From the hilltop architecture, to the mountains, to the comfort food, to the moments of resistance, to the boats docking at the piers— everything was different, but the same. Though Openi’s familial roots run from Hong Kong to San Francisco, and MOMB’s from Nigeria to across the US, they both came to find moments where it felt like sitting with the origin story of similar views from ‘back home.’ Samesame.

    Hong Kong is a port city and the doorway to China for many coming from across the Pacific Ocean. Their markets are the prototype and home to Chinatowns across America and probably beyond. In the continental US, the majority of what chinese culture is, is perceived through the lens of Hong Kong, but it’s just a small slice. One result of this narrow lens is a global stereotype that outside of Kung Fu movies, and a handful of notable activist ‘anomaly’s, asian bodies are submissive and strive only to work hard and keep their head down. After taking a deeper look, it’s clear that this is often a product of survival within authoritarian political systems as many of the diaspora escaped militant dictatorships where acting out of line will cost your life, China not being an exception. Where there is struggle, there is protest, despite where you’re from.

    The youth-led protests in Hong Kong had been going on for 4 months by the time we arrived, China had just celebrated its National Day, and Carrie Lam had enacted the mask ban in the escalation of impending Emergency/Martial Law. Everything felt so familiar… the peaceful protesters met with buses full of cops in riot gear, nightly riots and warnings to stay inside, the planted ‘bad seed’ protester, aka cop in plainclothes, who’s the first to swing and starts the violent riot, smashed MTR stations, the graffiti. The same as occupy. The cop killings going unpunished because they’re above investigation, withheld cctv tapes. People carrying on with business as usual, despite there being an unofficial curfew causing grocery stores and 7-11’s to close at 4:30pm sharp. The opposition’s blissful yet intentional ignorance to the reality which caused those protesting to demand what they’re even protesting for, as they call the protestors ‘cockroaches’ and racist in the same breath. It’s the same as it is in the states. It’s the same in many other corners around the world. Same same.

    Amongst it all, hundreds of thousands of people were, and still are, prepared to fight for their rights. Fight against police, the escalating and entirely uncalled for brutality, against military totalitarianism, against becoming swallowed into Communist China, which would effectively eliminate Hong Kong as we know it. It would eliminate Hong Kong as we, voyeurs of the cultural products that have come through Hong Kong (Bruce Lee, Kung Fu in general, Anime despite its Japanese origins, Dim Sum & most of what people outside of China consider “Chinese Food”), know it. They are not only fighting for basic human rights, they are fighting against the cultural eradication of their home. And even this reminded us of home. Same same.

    Samesame: Hong Kong Series is a 3-part exhibit featuring photographic & installation works by Lala Openi and MOMB. 

    SameSame: Hong Kong Series includes (1) a meta recreation of Hong Kong’s most famous lennon wall from the ongoing protests that started in 2019, (2) a prototype streetwear line designed to portray the way various aspects, or threads, of our identities as diasporic people in a contemporary landscape are worn, and (3) select photographs of moments shared with distant relatives, who’ve transcended time & space to take form as a familiar sight, smell, taste, or energy. From the hilltop architecture, to the mountains, to the comfort food, to the moments of resistance, to the boats docking at the piers— everything was different, but the same. Though Openi’s familial roots run from Hong Kong to San Francisco, and MOMB’s from Nigeria to across the US, they both came to find moments where it felt like sitting with the origin story of similar views from ‘back home.’ Samesame.

    Hong Kong is a port city and the doorway to China for many coming from across the Pacific Ocean. Their markets are the prototype and home to Chinatowns across America and probably beyond. In the continental US, the majority of what chinese culture is, is perceived through the lens of Hong Kong, but it’s just a small slice. One result of this narrow lens is a global stereotype that outside of Kung Fu movies, and a handful of notable activist ‘anomaly’s, asian bodies are submissive and strive only to work hard and keep their head down. After taking a deeper look, it’s clear that this is often a product of survival within authoritarian political systems as many of the diaspora escaped militant dictatorships where acting out of line will cost your life, China not being an exception. Where there is struggle, there is protest, despite where you’re from.

    The youth-led protests in Hong Kong had been going on for 4 months by the time we arrived, China had just celebrated its National Day, and Carrie Lam had enacted the mask ban in the escalation of impending Emergency/Martial Law. Everything felt so familiar… the peaceful protesters met with buses full of cops in riot gear, nightly riots and warnings to stay inside, the planted ‘bad seed’ protester, aka cop in plainclothes, who’s the first to swing and starts the violent riot, smashed MTR stations, the graffiti. The same as occupy. The cop killings going unpunished because they’re above investigation, withheld cctv tapes. People carrying on with business as usual, despite there being an unofficial curfew causing grocery stores and 7-11’s to close at 4:30pm sharp. The opposition’s blissful yet intentional ignorance to the reality which caused those protesting to demand what they’re even protesting for, as they call the protestors ‘cockroaches’ and racist in the same breath. It’s the same as it is in the states. It’s the same in many other corners around the world. Same same.

    Amongst it all, hundreds of thousands of people were, and still are, prepared to fight for their rights. Fight against police, the escalating and entirely uncalled for brutality, against military totalitarianism, against becoming swallowed into Communist China, which would effectively eliminate Hong Kong as we know it. It would eliminate Hong Kong as we, voyeurs of the cultural products that have come through Hong Kong (Bruce Lee, Kung Fu in general, Anime despite its Japanese origins, Dim Sum & most of what people outside of China consider “Chinese Food”), know it. They are not only fighting for basic human rights, they are fighting against the cultural eradication of their home. And even this reminded us of home. Same same.

    Below, you can take a virtual guided tour, which comes with animated captions.
    Or, you can explore the exhibit at your own pace.
    Heads up: this does require downloading an app called Artsteps (its free!) — this app will allow you to take a guided virtual tour with animated captions, or you can virtually walk around the exhibit at your own pace.