HKFP Lens: Revisiting Hong Kong’s old Kai Tak Airport, 25 years after its closure
Hong Kong Free Press
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the closure of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport, Blue Lotus Gallery is hosting an exhibition, “Goodbye Kai Tak and Thank You,” featuring works by Canadian photographer Greg Girard and Hong Kong photographer Birdy Chu.
Running from June 30 to July 30, the show gets its name from the final words uttered by former director of civil aviation, Richard Siegel, when Cathay Pacific flight CX251 took off for London Heathrow soon after midnight on July 6, 1998, marking the end of Kai Tak’s run as the city’s main airport.
The airport opened in 1925 and, over the years, made its mark on Hong Kong culture, with images of planes passing perilously closed to the rooftops of Kowloon tenement blocks becoming synonymous with Kai Tak itself.
Girard and Chu sought to capture these moments and more, recording and uncovering different facets of life that evolved and revolved around the airport.
The “Goodbye Kai Tak and Thank You” exhibition will run from 11am untli 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday, from 30 June to 30 July at Blue Lotus Gallery, G/F, 28 Pound Lane, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.
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