Artist helps Hong Kong’s elderly revisit their youth by recreating past buildings – one miniature model at a time
- On Tai Yau-on’s Mini Movements project has led to exhibitions at elderly care homes where he hopes recreations of early scenes will bring a spark of joy and nostalgia to residents
As a child who lived in the Kwun Tong Resettlement Area, one of Hong Kong’s oldest public housing communities, artist On Tai Yau-on, 39, counts many cherished memories from that time as inspiration.
Among scenes he hopes to recreate are an iron gate and wooden door that were seldom locked, candy vendors wandering dank corridors and a dim sum place below his block where neighbours would hang out.
But, instead of putting this on canvas, Tai intends to relive his childhood by actually building such places from scratch – in miniature.
“I miss how close the community was, the sense of human touch in an old neighbourhood,” he says of the area, which was refurbished and renamed as Tsui Ping Estate in the 1970s.
For more than a year, Tai has been showcasing his work – models of old Hong Kong buildings and stores – at elderly care homes across the city. His mission: to let “those who can no longer walk out [of hospitals]” experience places from their youth.
Tai can recreate virtually anything – from a public housing flat to a red banner store, cinema and even the city’s notorious cage homes.
His project Mini Movements has been held at six locations where dozens of elderly people can gawk at the miniature models, paint Chinese calligraphy and share life stories with more than 30 volunteers – some as young as three – over three-hour sessions.
