There are 31 years to go before the 50 years of an unchanged “one country, two systems” promised to Hong Kong expires, and the countdown has already begun.

A politically sensitive public art installation about the 2047 deadline was yanked from public view this week, escalating discussion in Hong Kong far beyond the meaning of the work itself. The situation threatens to define a new set of rules in a city striving to be a cultural hub, as self-censorship is on the rise.

The row is still ongoing, but the underlying dilemma is clear: Can genuine artistic freedom in Hong Kong be maintained until 2047 and beyond, even as funding for the arts increasingly comes from the government and wealthy landlords with ties to mainland China?

Hong Kong is the world’s most important art trading hub after New York and London, but the city’s own homegrown arts scene is an anomaly, backed by government funding and a handful of rich patrons. Government funding for the arts has nearly doubled from 2008, to HK$4 billion this fiscal year, as bureaucrats try to boost local arts to fill the theaters and galleries being created at the West Kowloon Cultural District, East Kowloon Cultural Center, and at the revamped historic Central Police Station compound…..

Source: The removal of “Countdown Machine” shows Hong Kong wants to remain a global arts hub, while censoring political art — Quartz