Ceramic murals give transitional housing residents a sense of home
SingTao · 1 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
Ceramic artist Nick Poon Fai-wong (潘輝煌) and his team invited 256 residents and members of the public to paint blue-and-white ceramic plates that were later assembled into three murals for the transitional housing project “East Inn” in Kai Tak, Ma On Shan and Lau Fau Shan . The works were designed around the themes of sea, land and sky, reflecting the character of each site: Lau Fau Shan’s coastal setting, Kai Tak’s former airport history and Ma On Shan’s mountain landscape . Poon said the goal was to strengthen residents’ sense of belonging, even if they stay only one or two years while waiting for public housing or rebuilding their lives after events such as a fire . He also sees pottery as a way to preserve space for reflection and “blankness” in Hong Kong’s pressured urban life .
Key Points
- The project brought together 256 participants, split roughly evenly between residents and members of the public, to hand-paint individual blue-and-white ceramic plates .
- After firing, the plates were assembled into three murals installed at East Inn transitional housing sites in Kai Tak, Ma On Shan and Lau Fau Shan .
- Poon visited all three locations repeatedly before setting the sea-land-sky concept based on each community’s geography and local history .
- He said some East Inn residents were families waiting for public housing, while others were Hong Fuk Court neighbours displaced after a major fire .
- Poon, founder of Half Pottery Studio, said teaching began as a practical livelihood but later became a two-way process that also expanded his own artistic thinking .
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the project shows how community art can give transitional housing residents visibility and a sense of ownership, even when their stay is temporary . It also points to a wider debate over how much room the city’s education system and daily life leave for reflection, experimentation and emotional recovery .