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readymade-journal-en · 7 years

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Thickest Choi / Lawnmap Hong kong Co-Founder Walking through Lawnmap

Lawnmap was always more than the lawns: it is about promoting an attitude to life. With our living space is cramped into a shoebox, Grasscamp, for instance, offers an escape with the promise of music and nature. Thickest Choi started this project sharing information about lawns in Hong Kong, and Lawnmap through the years evolves into an organiser of music festivals or exchange square on lawns. The idea remains that we all need a space, a little peace of mind.

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Lawnmap held a lot of events, sharing information on its Facebook page,What is the idea behind Lawnmap?

At first, it was definitely about problems related to public space, as we started Lawnmap because in 2011, an anchor was asked to leave for laying on the grass in Nam Cheong Park . When more and more people are using these spaces, we hope that people would cherish them as they were enjoying a picnic or camping. I think the first step is for people to see the place as ‘aesthetic’ and not caring that the ground may be muddy. This is not an easy step as some may be scared of insects or the dirt. In the second step, we ask: do you care for this environment? You enjoyed this place, so you would want it to be able to sustain right? We would share some news about the development of green space in our neighbourhood. We may not have a strong stance on the issue, and I do not want to give a direct answer, but I hope that people would at least care about these public space.

Before starting this project, what kind of experience impacted you?

When I came back from Europe and it so happened that my friends were kick-starting a project called “Complaints Choir”. This idea came from a Finnish word Valituskuoro, which means “the state where many complain together”. The choir would collect complaints for lyrics and perform in the streets. I learnt a lot in the two years that I participated in this choir. In such a choir, some members had musical training, some were really tone-deaf. However, the point of this choir was that anyone can participate in singing or writing lyrics, which made it difficult to manage but was also a lot of fun. This experience impacted me when I started the project Lawnmap. One of the most inspiring was that we don’t need resources to do something. In the beginning, we had no resources. Sometimes, projects don’t need a lot of resources to start, but its aims and objectives are what matters.

When choosing a venue for events, what would you consider?

We have held camping events in West Kowloon, which was a unique experience with us waking up to the stunning view of the Victoria Harbour. It would be nice to hold events in West Kowloon from time to time, but it is not suitable for large-scale events. West Kowloon cannot enable us to hold events that make participants “more comfortable”.

One of the biggest problems of Hong Kong is that many things, no matter economical or cultural, killed a lot of possibilities. Must we hold these events in West Kowloon? Why not in Yuen Long or in Tai Po? Going to a festival, one can offer to discover the many potential a place has to offer. If we are always in West Kowloon, it is only a dull and repetitive venue. It isn’t that West Kowloon is not important, but there is nothing new to stimulate new inspiration, therefore I don’t want to hold events in West Kowloon.

Video Interview by Iris Cheung

Text by Iris Cheung

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