'Tonkin Street', The Last Tong Lau, Cheung Sha Wan, 2014

Archival pigment print, collaboration with Jörg Dietrich, edition of 18
39 x 85 cm
15 3/8 x 33 7/16 inches
Signed, titled and edition numbered by Artist below the image of print.
Image size only, print size will include 10 cm bleed size all around (add 20 cm) and frame is another 2 cm all around (add 4 cm), Photographs taken in 2014, digital collage completed in 2021. - Tonkin Street, Cheung Sha Wan | 東京街，長沙灣 This panorama depicts Nos. 24-38 Tonkin Street, and features two classic tong lau buildings from the mid-1950’s. Situated at the boundary of Cheung Sha Wan and Sham Shui Po districts, these mixed-use structures provided residential homes in the upper floors and retail units on the ground floor for more than 60 years. In 2020, the Urban Renewal Authority began a redevelopment project requiring the demolition of these buildings, which will be replaced by a high-rise block of around 175 new apartments. Fuk Wing Street, seen at the right of the photograph, is also known locally as “Toy Street”, due to a cluster of more than 30 stores selling affordable toys, stationery and party accessories further to the south in Sham Shui Po. In April 2006, drainage workers uncovered more than 580 explosive items, including cannon shells, bullets and grenades. These were buried between 1 and 3 metres beneath the surface at Tonkin Street and Fuk Wing Street. The material had belonged to the British Army around the period of World War II and local residents were temporarily evacuated to allow ammunition experts from the Hong Kong Police Force to safely detonate the devices. © Stefan Irvine. Courtesy Blue Lotus Gallery, Hong Kong.