For my final project of this course I chose to make recordings in Victoria Park on Sunday mornings. I have been fascinated with Victoria Park since the beginning of my exchange in Hong Kong. The park is within walking distance of my home. So, I visit or pass through the it several times a week. For me, the park has always been a place to relax, workout and socialise while at the same time a place to observe. In general, being in a foreign country, I find my self more in an observing state than when I am in Europe, where little seems like its new or worth observing. Victoria Park is my favourite place in Hong Kong to be an observer. In contrast to many other places in Hong Kong, the park is a place where I can rest and stay for longer periods of time. I can sit on a bench or in the middle of field, free of charge and become as Emerson once put it: an Invisible Eyeball. Furthermore, there is so much take in, especially on Sundays.

Sunday in Hong Kong, is my third and last day off before Monday. Yet, for many foreign domestic helpers, from Indonesia it is the only day off, in a week with ”11 to 16 hours [of work] a day.” (Juliastuti, 2020) Victoria Park is the place where many of those Indonesian domestic helpers, an overwhelming majority of whom are women choose to spend their free day. Sunday is the day when Victoria Park is transformed, visually as well as sonically. The domestic helpers gather not only socialise but also claim the area, to cook, perform cultural rituals and exercise martial arts. The Indonesian women at Victoria Park, establish every Sunday, what could be described as an Indonesian micro cosmos, that represents the island nations rich and diverse culture. For example on side of the park, close to the basketball fields, I can see and hear, muslim Indonesian women, wearing hijabs signing prayer songs, with their hands open to their faces. Closer to the fountain, another group of women, prepare an old Javanese ritual the Jaranan or horse dance an ancient practice where usually men (now women) behave and dance like animals to cast out bat spirits. And opposite of that we find a group of women practicing Pecak Silat, an old traditional Indonesian Martial art. (Pangyao.hk, 2022) It should be mentioned, that the Indonesians are by far not the only demographic visiting the park on Sunday, another common sight are elderly Hong Kong natives performing Tai Chi, as well as domestic workers from other nations, but the Indonesian women are clearly the most dominant group. On one hand they claim a lot of space, with picnic blankets and tents and on the other hand they dominantly shape the soundscape. The soundscape is transformed by the Indonesian language itself. As someone who neither speaks nor understands Cantonese and Bahasa, it is still very clear that the people around me do not speak Cantonese. Furthermore, the women also sing traditional songs, or play Indonesian pop music on speakers. Witnessing Victoria Park on a Sunday, reminded me of former experiences: when I visited a predominantly Turkish neighbourhood in Berlin or an area in New Delhi, that was mostly inhabited by Tibetan refugees. While being in such micro-environments, the larger environment (the actual country or city) fades into the background. What sets the Victoria Park case apart from the other two examples, is that it is temporary while the other two are parts of cities that have been established for more than one generation. Yet a visit to Victoria Park on Sundays, evokes the same feelings in me, despite its improvised and temporary nature.

Victoria Park, is a great example, of a place that allows otherwise invisible minority subcultures to claim space, presenting themselves and making themselves visible (and hearable). My little study, or rather short documentation of the park barely scratches the surface, as there is a lot more to document, explore and research about these particular 19 hectares of Hong Kong Island. If I had more time to record Victoria Park in a more comprehensive manner, I would use a combination of ambisonic recordings in addition to directional recordings with a shot gun microphone, to record specific groups and interviews.

My recordings:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PtdZG_s_kv8Uj8cAFTVU3fhzGT1YCa0k?usp=sharing