Steven Dilks — better known for his graffiti name ‘Dilk’ — calls it an oasis.

Known as “Mong Kok alley,” the secluded passageway stretching between Argyle St and Bute St was a already a focal point of the graffiti scene when the British artist first visited Hong Kong 10 years ago.

Back in town this week, it’s where he chose to show Coconuts HK when we sought his thoughts on the best place for street art in the city.

“It was already full up when I came; it’s always been a good spot. I visit every single time I’ve been, even if I’m not painting, I always come and document the works. I’ve got a good archive of what’s been painted,” Dilk says. “It’s amazing.”

Dilk is among a host of renowned artists exhibiting at Streets of Hong Kong, a four-day exhibition run by street art group SWL in Causeway Bay. Starting on Wednesday, the event will showcase “the past, present and future” of the Hong Kong street art scene, with prominent local and international figures putting their work on show alongside emerging talents.

Known for the endless variations on the lettering of his abstract tag, Dilk has been a semi-regular part of the Hong Kong scene since first visiting a decade ago with his partner, Sylvia, who’s from the city.

The pair met in Dilk’s native Nottingham, where he first picked up a spray can as a teenager in the 1980s and where he now runs a graffiti store when he’s not teaching emerging artists or traveling the globe to paint.

Walking down Mong Kong Alley this week, Dilk admired the fresh pieces (which most were), noting the “good layers” and “good color palettes” and pointing out the pieces done by friends (which many were, too).

After 25 years, he said he’s still driven both by the competitive element of graffiti — getting your art seen in more places — and by the challenge of trying to constantly vary his work.

“When you see people doing loads of stuff, it makes you want to up your game a bit, and do more,” he said.

“I’ve been painting so long, I’ve been through many changes. But now I want to break the rules a little bit. I painted really strictly before, everything had to follow certain guidelines I set for myself, now I’m a bit more free with it, let my hair down a little bit.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds, letting go. You set out to paint something and sort of start putting outlines on stuff and fall back into your own ways.”

He said the Hong Kong local scene continued to grow every year, while the city was a magnet for some of the world’s biggest artists.

As such, he was somewhat surprised a piece towards the northern end of the alley — which he painted in January last year — hadn’t been painted over.

“I was expecting it to be gone, though I would not have lost any sleep about it,” he said.

Streets of Hong Kong’ Exhibition will run from March 28-31.

Among other highlights, is work by Australian miniaturist and former stencil artist Joshua Smith, whose perfectly recreated in 1:20 scale miniatures of buildings from around the world became a sensation online and have been exhibited internationally.

Also featured is work from Xeme, Yumoh, Sinic, Wais, Yopey, Edge, Wais and Saute.

Streets of Hong Kong’ Exhibition
Location: Campfire V Point 9th Floor V Point, 18 Tang Lung St, Causeway Bay
Hours: 12.00pm – 7.00pm