Street Art in Berlin and Hong Kong

Growing up in Berlin, I was exposed to graffiti and street art from an early age on. Not only the Berlin Wall but many other walls all around town were peppered with it, too. Especially in Kreuzberg, the district I went to quite often to visit my grandparents, lots of graffiti could be found. Well, that hasn’t changed much. Kreuzberg is still one of those districts where a good amount of graffiti and street art can be found (especially in and around Oranienstrasse and Bergmannstrasse) and usually without having to look around too hard to find it.

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In Hong Kong on the other hand, finding street art is not that easy. Most of all because the officials and property owners around here seem to be quite alert and remove street art rather quickly. Sometimes so quickly that one might not even have the chance to see it. As a consequence the street artists rather apply their works in those unremarkable little side streets or in/on neglected old buildings where they won’t get removed so quickly. Finding street art in Hong Kong, therefore, often requires going a little off the beaten path. While discovering street art already proves to be a challenge, linking the discovered works to and finding information about their creators is often even more difficult. The late King of Kowloon’s calligraphy works, Graphic Airlines fat-faced characters and Start from Zero’s witty paste-ups are probably those most easily to identify and at least some information on these artists can be found.

But information or not, the most important thing, after all, is discovering and enjoying street art. Usually, I encounter most street art by chance while roaming the streets of Hong Kong. Based on my personal experience the following areas have a good likelihood to have some street art in store for the observant passer-by:

The Tai Hang area (Causeway Bay): roughly between Tung Lo Wan Road, Wun Sha Street and Third Lane
Tang Lung Street (Causeway Bay): The old neglected buildings on the left hand side of Tang Lung Street, coming from Hennessy Road, and that slightly shabby looking alleyway that connects Tang Lung Street and Russell Street
The older buildings around Leighton Road, Haven Street and Caroline Hill Road (Causeway Bay)
The Tai Ping Shan area (Sheung Wan): Tai Ping Shan Street and the surrounding small streets all the way to Hollywood Road
Gough Street area (Central): roughly between Gough, Aberdeen, Shing Wong Streets and Hollywood Road

And for those who don’t have the chance to check out the Hong Kong street art scene in person, here is a collection of my favorite street art pieces that I have discovered and photographed since 2010:

Start from Zero (SFZ):

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Graphic Airlines: