SAAN1 Gallery

Silent Protest is a collection of artwork by international award-winning artist Martin Li Wah Lever. Inspired by events in Hong Kong from 2019/20, the work is a statement on the changing face of a previously fully free society after the introduction of a controversial National Security Law. Proceeds from the exhibition will support the work of Hong Kong Watch, a UK-based human rights advocacy group and charity. In an ironic nod to the iconic propaganda posters of the Cultural Revolution, Lever’s graffiti-style monochrome portraits capture the young protestors on the streets of Hong Kong, their mouths gagged with zippers and masks. The words of Mao Tse Tung hang over the crowd – their meaning simultaneously enlightened and sinister, when juxtaposed with the contemporary dreams of a largely peaceful Hong Kong youth.