Pierfrancesco Celada, When I feel down I take a train to the Happy Valley, 2024

One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Hong Kong is a place of strong contrasts; a claustrophobic urban environment surrounded by water and uncontained nature, where the cost of housing is high and socio-economical inequalities are ever growing. Occasionally, while walking in the city, you could spot a tram go past; its destination sign reading “Happy Valley”, its terminal stop. In those moments, when you feel the weight of the city on your shoulders, I like to imagine that it does offer a sense of hope. I moved to Hong Kong in 2014. During these seven years, with the aid of visual metaphors, I have analysed my own relationship with the city, with the intent of drawing a portraiture of Hong Kong and its complex and multilayered realities.