If you had spent time in Hong Kong twenty years ago, you would have been an unsuspecting viewer of the King of Kowloon’s art.
To celebrate this artist, who was once completely dismissed by the public, the Google Cultural Institute has created an awesome virtual museum, where you can learn about this great master’s life and work through photographs.
Starting in 1956, the King of Kowloon, as Tsang Tsou Choi became known, painstakingly covered entire swathes of Hong Kong’s public property in his simple but instantly recognisable calligraphy.
In his writings he proclaimed himself the rightful heir to Kowloon, and accused the British government of stealing his kingdom.
For decades the authorities attempted to paint over his graffiti, but even they could not keep up with the prolific artist. He died in 2007.
Eventually Tsang would be recognised as one of the world’s first graffiti artists, and now his works are coveted pieces that go for hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong Dollars.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
