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Lucie Chang Fine Arts is pleased to present - Tales of "Kowloon King" a solo exhibition of Tsang Tsou Choi (a.k.a King of Kowloon). In this solo exhibition, we will present a number of his unique and legendary pop culture works under the theme of "The King of Kowloon" for the audience to enjoy. Through the exhibition, we hope to share his lesser-known story and his cultural values.

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Tsang Tsou Choi (a.k.a "King of Kowloon") was born in Guangzhou in 1921, Tsang Tsou Choi traveled to Hong Kong as a poor, barely literate teenager. After discovering some important ancestral documents, Tsang claimed that the land of Kowloon belonged to his family, thereby adopting the title “King of Kowloon”.

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Over the years, he has created his own graffiti-style calligraphy, using the Chinese traditional "Four Treasures of Study" （文房四寶） brush and ink to write on public objects such as walls, bridge piers, traffic light control boxes, and lamp posts in the cosmopolitan city of Hong Kong. His graffiti is primarily a political indictment of the colonial system, with a secondary focus on the emotional expression of his ancestors and family members. Occasionally, he would write two large Chinese characters "國皇". His actions have been interpreted by the public as a sign of insanity, but after a decade of graffiti writing, his perseverance has finally gained recognition and become a common urban cultural memory for generations of Hong Kong people. Through his writing and perseverance, Tsang conveys the message of the Chinese people's indomitable and peace-loving spirit.

 

In the work of the 'King of Kowloon,' family members play an important role. In order to prove his lawful inheritance of the land in Kowloon, he frequently recounts his ancestry, stating his forefather's names all the way back to the original landowners. Man Fook-Choi, his wife, also appears as 'the empress' in his paintings.

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Lucie Chang Fine Arts 十分榮幸呈現香港家喻戶曉的塗鴉藝術家「九龍皇帝」曾灶財的個展《「九龍皇帝」物語》。這次展覽中，我們將以「九龍皇帝」為主題，展出多件他獨特和充滿傳奇的文化作品給觀眾欣賞。並希望通過展示其作品來分享背後鮮為人知的「九龍皇帝」故事和其文化價值。

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曾灶財，又名「九龍皇帝」，於1921年出生於廣州，其後移居到香港，當時的他只是個貧窮、幾乎不識字的少年。在發現了一些重要的祖傳文件後，曾灶財聲稱九龍的土地是他家人所擁有，從而獲得了 「九龍皇帝」的稱號。

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多年來，其自創的塗鴉式書法, 以中國傳統文房四寶中的筆和墨寫滿香港這個國際都市中的公共戶外物品如牆壁、橋躉、交通燈控制箱和燈柱等之上。他塗鴉書寫的內容以反殖民制度的政治控訴為主, 呈現祖先及家族成員的情感表達為副。他偶爾亦會寫上兩個特大的「國皇」漢字。他的這些行為，一直被公眾解讀為精神錯亂的表現；然而經過了這塗鴉式書寫行為數十年後，他的堅持終於穫得了認同, 並成為了數代香港人的共同城市文化回憶。曾灶財通過文字內容及堅持不懈的行為來傳遞中國人不屈不撓、愛好和平的訊息。家庭成員在 「九龍皇帝」的作品中佔有顯著的地位。他經常敘述自己的血統，列出祖先的名字，一直追溯到原來的地主，以證明他對九龍土地的合法繼承。他的妻子文福彩也經常以“皇后”的身份出現在他的作品中。

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Exhibition 展覽：

19 May 2022 – Late July 2022

  

Opening Hours 開放時間：

Tue - Sat 10am - 7pm

二至六 上午10時 - 下午7時

Artists 藝術家：
Tsang Tsou Choi (a.k.a "King of Kowloon")

曾灶財，又名「九龍皇帝」