Our iconic city lights may be dimming, but local craftspeople and artists are working to ensure the legacy of neon signs is never forgotten.
Our city is filled with living monuments, whether it be historic buildings, temples, bamboo scaffolding, or neon shop signs. It’s hard to imagine Hong Kong’s streets without these vibrant and colourful signage boards. Yet, tightening building regulations mean the familiar hue that once shrouded our cityscape is being stripped away one sign at a time. While the future of neon signs may be dimming, craftspeople and contemporary artists in Hong Kong are fighting to salvage and preserve the city’s representative glow in alternative ways.
We speak with grandfather-grandson duo, neon craftsman Wong Kin-wah (黃健華) and contemporary artist Jerry Loo, about their latest collaborative exhibition, Neon Heroes: Illuminated Dreams taking place at PMQ. Here’s what they shared about their respective neon journeys and their take on the future of neon signs.
Neon signs in Hong Kong: A flickering legacy
A legacy revived: Neon Heroes: Illuminated Dreams
“My grandfather is my hero. And that’s what inspired me to do a hero-themed exhibition,” explains Loo as he leads a tour of his latest showcase at PMQ. Neon Heroes: Illuminated Dreams is a collaborative project not only between Master Wong and Loo, but also of craftspeople and artists, tradition and contemporaneity.
Sprawled over the Courtyard and Marketplace of Sheung Wan’s arts and cultural hub is a collection of life-size installations that cleverly incorporate familiar neon lights into new forms. “If we simply create more neon shop signs, people will just be admiring them from afar without really appreciating what makes neon lights special,” says Loo.
Part of Neon Heroes’ charm is its interactivity. Visitors can touch and get up close and personal with all but one installation in the exhibition, whether they’re posing for a picture or inspecting the intricacies of neon’s glowing attraction. “This sculpture is two-dimensional,” Loo gestures towards The Luminous, a fire-shaped installation bearing a distinctive yellow hue. “But by manipulating the light’s glow using glass panels, it appears to be three-dimensional instead.”
A homage to the masters
“This piece is dedicated to my grandfather, Master Wong,” says Loo as he stands hand-in-hand with his grandfather by Eternal Glow: Legacy in Neon, the largest installation in the exhibition. “He’s now the most experienced neon craftsman in Hong Kong, having produced some of the city’s most iconic neon shop signs in the past 60 years.”
“Since coming to Hong Kong in ‘54, I’ve been making neon shop signs till now. Whether big or small, I’ve made plenty,” Master Wong recalls his journey in the neon industry fondly. “All along Nathan Road, and also [on the front of] bars in Wan Chai’s Lockhart Road, you’ll see some of my work.”
Adapt, innovate, create
“This installation shows how neon craftspeople adapted technologies of the trade as they were imported from the west,” explains Loo, gesturing towards the replica of a tool used to heat glass tubes used in neon sign crafting. “There are many more twists and turns when crafting signs with Chinese characters than the English alphabet. To make a character from a single glass tube is a testament to the craftsman’s skills.”
“It’s all hands-on work,” Master Wong explains the process of bending a straight glass tube into shape. “[The characters on] neon signs are made of glass, which is a technique that’s hard to mechanise. Signs are two-dimensional, and we trace a draft with the glass tube through repeated rounds of heating, twisting, and glass blowing.”
A feat of engineering and alchemy
“Every design starts with a white glass tube. To get different colours, you need to coat the inside of the tube with a powder,” Master Wong gestured towards the blue- and yellow-hued installations around the exhibition. “For green, you need to add argon gas when you vacuumise the tube. To get a reddish-orange, you add neon gas. There is a lot of variety, and people always say my work is like a scientist’s!”
“I wanted to make some very intricate designs for the exhibition,” says Loo. “But since I want visitors to interact with [the installations], I have to take safety and other concerns into account and work on each piece with my grandfather and his team of craftsmen.” Master Wong reinforces the intricacies of working with an extra plane: “Three-dimensional designs are different; you need another formula for those.”
“For example, Superhero Landing is a three-dimensional design,” Loo gestures towards the centrepiece in the Courtyard. “It’s essentially a glass tube spiral, and the production process is very different from your usual neon signs. But the craftsmen were very eager and open to trying new techniques and designs despite the lack of familiarity.”
A dwindling heritage or revived legacy?
“I’ve made many neon shop signs in my time, but many have been removed,” Master Wong reminisces with a bittersweet smile. “The decline [of neon shop signs] on public buildings comes from a mandate to register with the Building Department, which increases the cost of commissioning and owning a sign, which can become burdensome for small businesses.” Yet, Master Wong remains hopeful about the future of neon signs in Hong Kong.
“I hope this will help get the word out about neon shop signs,” comments Master Wong on Neon Heroes. “There are a lot of young people who come to me to learn [about neon sign crafting], but for most of them, it’s only an interest. They have their own careers, so it’s difficult to pick it up full-time.”
“Neon signs will change with the times,” muses Loo. “So will people and places. We might not see neon signs on the streets as much, but they will evolve and look towards a more artistic future. I don’t think neon signs must be tied to nostalgia. Those who appreciate their beauty can still find nostalgic value in more artistic interpretations.”
Neon Heroes: Illuminated Dreams
Date: Until 7 July 2025
Address: Courtyard and Marketplace, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
What Hong Kong heritage should I explore next? DM @honeycombershk on Instagram or drop me an email at celia.lee@thehoneycombers.com.
