The silencing of protest is the hallmark of authoritarian governments. While often this silencing can be very bloody, the most effective form of violence is legislative. The fight for democracy in Hong Kong – and the accompanying crackdown – is a prime example of how State power is wielded more forcefully through legislation than law enforcement. China’s addition of the National Security Law to Hong Kong Basic Law, the de facto constitution of the quasi-independent area, is attempting to squash the will of the people in Hong Kong. The real effects of this law are still being felt, and are explored in Libertine’s new exhibition from photographer Taewon Heo, “Kill the Secret Cops.”

Taewon Heo’s photography does not explore the protest itself so much as the obliteration of protest. His photos are of Hong Kong protest signs, often graffiti, that have been painted over and obscured. The obfuscation is obvious – there seems to be little mind paid to being secretive about eliminating the subversive messages, and for good reason: the destruction of democracy doesn’t need to be subtle when it is legal.

The National Security Law, basically, allows Chinese police to arrest and extradite individuals in Hong Kong that they view as treasonous against the central government in Beijing. This law is intentionally broad. Pro-democracy political advocates and politicians have been arrested and disappeared into the Mainland; protestors and activists are being sentenced to years in prison; and, with the recent dissolution of Apple Daily, free press has all but been extinguished. The emptiness of Taewon Heo’s scenes emphasizes these broad eliminations of human rights. Humanity itself is nonexistent in the images, though their remains can be found under a thin layer of paint.

At the protest on July 1st 2020, police arrested protestors for holding flags, signs, or even phone stickers that displayed pro-democracy messages. Taewon Heo’s photographs of political violence illustrate the destruction of those messages, and how their absence can be powerful. Though the words have been destroyed, the message is clear: Hong Kong will be free. The protest never stopped, and democracy lives.

Liberate Hong Kong, The Revolution of Our Times

光復香港，時代革命

Libertine
6817 Melrose Ave, LA, CA, 90038
Thru July 9th, 2021