A Walk of Life

by Kay Yip

I’m fond of walking. It is a daily practice and a necessary act for us to keep lives going. At the same time, it can be a conscious act of manifestation and demonstration.

Inspired by the Situationist concept of the Dérive, I developed a walking tour in one of the old districts in Hong Kong – Sai Wan – that soon will be taken over by MTR for railway development, which will certainly transform the community to be well organized and efficient. Cranes and construction are everywhere and housing prices skyrocket. At this moment, Sai Wan keeps a high degree of mix of new and old, but before all its gems are buried, it is advisable to take a last closer look, to imprint what once exited, and to reflect on what kind of living district we would like to build.

I incorporate the local Chinese proverb – Clothes, Food, Living, Transportation, Life, Aging, Sickness, Death – as a theme of the walk, in order to represent how ordinary residents go through different stages of life. The walk is set up as a game: you have to first throw a dice, then pick up an instruction card and follow the instructions. The goal is to find specific places or joining particular activities related to the proverb.

I hope people can enjoy walking in a different form and become aware of the significance in the old district that they may have overlooked before.