 |
Thousands
of people crowd the waterfront on the last day to see a
giant duck in Hong Kong
on June 9, 2013 (AFP, Richard A. Brooks)
|
HONG KONG —
Thousands said farewell Sunday to a giant inflatable yellow rubber duck which
has captivated Hong Kong, on its final day in the city's harbour before it
heads to the United States.
The
southern Chinese city has taken the 16.5 metre-tall (54-feet) duck, conceived
by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, to its heart since it arrived under tow on
May 2 to cheering crowds.
Duck mania
has gripped the city -- and parts of the Chinese mainland -- since its arrival,
with hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists in Hong Kong flooding the
streets near where the giant replica bath toy is moored to catch a glimpse.
Stalls and
shops sold replicas and merchandise ranging from T-shirts to three-dimensional
duck tote bags. Restaurants created special duck dishes.
In mainland
China, copies of the duck made an appearance in several cities -- prompting a
rebuke from the communist party newspaper the People's Daily for what it called
unoriginal copycat behaviour.
The duck
was even embroiled in mainland politics, in the run-up to the 24th anniversary
on June 4 of the Tiananmen suppression of pro-democracy activists by the army.
Internet
searches on the mainland for "yellow duck" were banned after users
circulated a mocked-up image of a famous 1989 photo, with tanks replaced by
plastic ducks.
In Hong
Kong thousands were seen taking their last look Sunday at the genuine duck,
wishing it well for the journey ahead and thanking it for bringing joy to the
Asian financial hub.
"I
hope that it can bring happiness to the people in the different countries it
visits," 30 year-old Sam Tsang told AFP.
"The
rubber duck has brought us a lot of happiness...I hope it will come back,"
said 34 year-old teacher Tina Yip.
Shopping
mall Harbour City, organisers of the exhibit, said in a statement the duck has
"spread joy and positive energy to everyone in town and has received so
much love and support from fans and media".
Since 2007
the duck has travelled to 13 different cities in nine countries ranging from
Brazil to Australia.
Hofman said
he hopes the duck, which will now travel to the US city of Pittsburgh, will act
as a "catalyst" to connect people to public art.
The duck
was to be deflated early Monday before being shipped out.
"Missing
you already ducky! Must let you go to bring happiness to people around the
world!!" Annie Hung wrote on Hofman's Facebook wall.
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.