In 2014 Hong Kong, a group of people came together to protest for democracy by occupying the streets outside the Hong Kong Legislative Building. The movement was known as the "Umbrella Movement" as protesters used umbrellas to shield themselves from tear gas used by the police. The protest brought media attention all over the globe to the peaceful and polite city, mostly because protests of such a scale rarely occurred in Hong Kong. To demonstrate their support, Hong Kong citizens began to wear yellow ribbons and use yellow umbrellas as a symbol of revolution and democracy.
This painting depicts the dichotomy between media portrayal of protests versus reality. Despite the widespread coverage of the events, many fail to realize that on a daily level, Hong Kong is not plagued with riots and violence depicted in the exaggerated photos propagated by the media. Actually, many people still go on with their lives, and even behind the rails, students attend study sessions and do homework, coming in and out of tents to work or to school, never breaking the flow that people from Hong Kong are so accustomed to in their daily lives.
