Hong Kong Chapter One

War on Culture

On a rooftop in Wong Chuk Hang, Reo Ma crafts a world on his own terms. Part atelier, occasional music studio, full-time artistic ammunition foundry for his War on Culture. Sometimes it’s made from what the city leaves behind: old shop fittings, reclaimed materials, and metal he welds himself.

Reo’s hacks, improvisations, and provocations embody permission-less creation. This idea that you can make a universe without waiting for someone to legitimize it. During Hong Kong’s art week, Reo and his manager Tommy transform a construction bin into a makeshift gallery, asking whether the value of art depends on where it is shown or how we see it.

Reo working with materials in a dark space.
“I just look at whatever material I have here, and I start building out of it.”
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Reo beside an installation made from salvaged objects.
“So this is my mobile gallery.”
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Reo standing on a Hong Kong street.
“I’m trying to understand what is space.”
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People gathered on Burd Street at night beside a painted storefront.
PUBLIC Burd Street, after dark
A man repairs a bicycle in front of a bright yellow shutter after dark.
CITY Working at a yellow shutter
Reo on his bicycle in Hong Kong after dark.
CITY Around the city after dark
Close detail of a hand-stitched patchwork trouser leg, with a hand resting beside it.
DETAIL Hand-stitched patchwork