Umbrella Square
{{EngvarB|date=December 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Umbrella Square
| native_name = 雨傘廣場
| native_name_lang = zh
| settlement_type = People's commune
| image_skyline =Cellphones in Hong Kong during 2014 Hong Kong protests.jpg
| image_alt = Crowds refuse to disperse from Harcourt Road, creating Umbrella Plaza
| image_caption =Umbrella Square on 29 September 2014
| nickname =Umbrella Plaza
| image_map =Umbrella Square HK.png
| map_caption =Map of the Umbrella Square
| coordinates = {{coord|22.2795155|114.164129|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Hong Kong
| subdivision_name =
| subdivision_type1 =
| subdivision_name1 =
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| website =
}}
Umbrella Square{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3581690/life-in-hong-kong-occupy-protest-camps/|title=Hong Kong's Protest Camps Are Organized Better than the Protests|author=Elizabeth Barber|magazine=Time}}{{cite web|url=http://qz.com/279221/someone-should-preserve-hong-kongs-protest-art-before-its-too-late/|title=Someone should preserve Hong Kong's protest art before it's too late|first=Heather|last=Timmons|publisher=Quartz}} ({{zh|t=雨傘廣場}}), also called Umbrella Plaza,{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1623283/occupys-benny-tai-announces-vote-hkfs-proposals-reform|title=Student, Occupy leaders announce vote on government's reform proposals|work=South China Morning Post}} describes a large roadway in Admiralty, Hong Kong occupied by protesters during the Umbrella Movement protests{{cite news|last1=Noble|first1=Josh|title=HK's 'Umbrella Square' takes on identity of its own|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3b95d404-55c5-11e4-93b3-00144feab7de.html|work=Financial Times|date=17 October 2014}}{{cite web|last1=Kaiman|first1=Jonathan|title=Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Square' one month on: how are protesters living?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/nov/02/hong-kong-umbrella-square-wifi-bottled-water|date=2 November 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=4 November 2014}} in September 2014. On 11 December 2014, after 74 days of occupation, the area was cleared by the police and reopened to motorised traffic.Siu, Jasmine (12 December 2014). [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=152316&sid=43528881&con_type=1&d_str=20141212&fc=7 "Sweeping end to 75 days of occupation"]. The Standard{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30426346 |title=Hong Kong protests: Arrests as Admiralty site is cleared |publisher=BBC |date=11 December 2014 |access-date=11 December 2014 }}
Origin
The area became completely pedestrianised area after the 28 September 2014, when the Hong Kong police decided to employ tear gas against peaceful protesters. The use of teargas by the police brought hundreds of thousands of people to the area.
Geography and delimitation
Umbrella Square comprised virtually the entire lengths of Harcourt Road, and Tim Mei Avenue.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hong-kong-braces-fresh-occupy-protests-activists-form-umbrella-square-1469321|title=Hong Kong Braces for Fresh Occupy Protests, Activists to Form 'Umbrella Square'|first=Vasudevan|last=Sridharan|date=10 October 2014|work=International Business Times}} There were barricades on each end and on roads leading to or off both roads, numbering 21 in total.
Lion rock umb at roadblock.JPG|Outpost at Connaught Road
2014 Hong Kong protests October 21 - bamboo barricades in Admiralty.JPG|Barricade reinforced with bamboo scaffolds in front of PLA building
Road block on Lung Wui Road near Citic Tower on 2014-10-29.JPG|On Lung Wui Road near CITIC Tower
Road block on Cotton Tree Drive on 2014-10-29.JPG|On Cotton Tree Drive
Road block on Harcourt Road near Performing Arts Avenue on 2014-10-18.JPG|On Harcourt Road near Arsenal Street
Initially an informal term by the occupiers, "Umbrella Square" became a recognised name as people continued to occupy the site. The name became incorporated into maps. During the 2014 Hong Kong protests the area was home to around 2,000 tents of varying sizes,{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.fr/story/95479/hong-kong-revolution-artistique-numerique|title=Hong Kong, une révolution artistique et numérique|date=7 December 2014|publisher=Slate|language=fr}} many of which were given addresses by the residents. It was reported that postal services delivered to Umbrella Square tent addresses, although the Hong Kong Post officially denies having done so.{{cite magazine|title=The Main Hong Kong Protest Site Is a Perfect Anarchist Collective|url=https://time.com/3523217/occupy-central-hong-kong-harcourt-road-admiralty-democracy-anarchism-anarchist-collective-china-protest/|magazine=Time}}{{cite web|title=Local Mail Delivery Service|url=http://www.hongkongpost.hk/eng/publications/news/2014/20141017b/index.htm|publisher=Hong Kong Post|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104065632/http://www.hongkongpost.hk/eng/publications/news/2014/20141017b/index.htm|archive-date=4 November 2014|df=dmy-all}}
Culture
Jonathan Kaiman of The Guardian described Umbrella Square as a "high-functioning utopian collective blocked off by a handful of elaborate barricades". Upon entering, Kaiman observed that "the overwhelming feeling is one of entering an art fair, or a music festival – protesters sit on the pavement cross-legged, strumming guitars and checking their smartphones. During the day, tourists amble through the crowd, snapping photos with SLR cameras; at night, hundreds, sometimes thousands of supporters gather to hear speeches and performances."
Provisions (such as biscuits, soft drinks, toilet paper, face masks, and bottled water) were donated, and distributed to occupiers and visitors passing through.
Facilities and infrastructure
File:Students Representative share feelings in Admiralty 20141211.jpgThe public toilets in the vicinity were equally well-stocked with toiletries. Local architects have noted how the occupiers re-purposed the square from the roadway and adapted it to functional use; they created ad hoc architecture, such as barricades, supply infrastructure, recycling stations cinemas and libraries.Tsang, Emily (10 December 2014). [http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1659236/mapping-out-protest-sites-history "Mapping out the protest sites for history"]. South China Morning Post. Art and infrastructure was added on a constant basis. Showers were erected, along with composting and electrical charging stations.{{cite news |first=Mary Louise |last=Schumacher |date=6 November 2014 |title=The enchanting art of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution |url=http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/the-enchanting-art-of-hong-kongs-umbrella-revolution-b99385524z1-281848021.html |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |access-date=7 November 2014 }} More than a hundred tents were available for rent, under condition that they be kept clean. In a workshop area, volunteer carpenters built steps, as well as desks and benches for students in the ad hoc study areas.{{cite web|url=http://qz.com/287209/the-best-life-hacks-from-hong-kongs-umbrella-movement-protests/|title=The best life hacks from Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement protests|author=Lily Kuo|work=Quartz}}
Notable areas included the Lennon Wall, the Study Zone, and Dark Corner – where the beating of a protester by seven police officers was captured on film and broadcast in a TVB news bulletin.{{cite web|last1=Lam|first1=Oiwan|title=Take a Photographic Tour of Hong Kong's Pro-Democracy 'Umbrella Square'|url=http://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/10/29/take-a-photographic-tour-of-hong-kongs-pro-democracy-umbrella-square/|website=Global Voices|date=29 October 2014|access-date=2 November 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/15/hong-kong-protestor-beaten_n_5987490.html|title=Hong Kong Police 'Kick And Punch Handcuffed Protestor' In Dark Corner in Shocking Video|work=The Huffington Post UK|date=15 October 2014}}
There was also a central podium where nightly talks and rallies were held, adjacent to which there was a press compound.
The encampments were referred to as "villages".{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Stickers and labels alluding to social change, freedom, and democracy were attached to road signs. Occupiers' flimsy tents were often given grandiose addresses such as "Umbrella Court" or "Democracy Gardens", parodying names given to luxury property developments in Hong Kong, an increasingly unaffordable city.{{cite web|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/391168/lifestyle/peopleandevents/fun-with-puns-umbrella-terms-a-new-weapon-in-hong-kong-democracy-battle|title=Fun with puns: 'Umbrella Terms' a new weapon in Hong Kong democracy battle|work=GMA News Online}}
{{clear}}
Gallery
20141024 090932 A.jpg|"Umbrella Square" road sign
2014 Hong Kong protests October 21 - Lennon Wall.JPG|The Lennon Wall
2014 Hong Kong protests October 21 - study area.JPG|Study zone
2014.10.37 Hong Kong protests.JPG|Patchwork canopy from umbrella fabric
Tim Mei Avenue Umbrella Artwork 20141001.jpg|Installation on the Tim Mei Avenue roundabout
Organisation
{{Main|Umbrella Movement}}
The movement was composed of many fractious groups, but had no leadership or formal organisation overall.{{cite web|url=http://qz.com/275263/hong-kongs-chief-executive-just-called-the-protesters-bluff-but-for-some-of-them-it-wasnt-a-bluff/|title=Hong Kong is attacking the protest movement's biggest weakness—its fragmented leadership|author=Gwynn Guilford|work=Quartz}} However, colours and members of the Labour Party, Democratic Party, Civic Party, CTU, League of Social Democrats and People Power were regularly seen in Umbrella Square.
Time magazine described the organised chaos of the protest sites as "classical political anarchism: a self-organizing community that has no leader."{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3523217/occupy-central-hong-kong-harcourt-road-admiralty-democracy-anarchism-anarchist-collective-china-protest/|title=Hong Kong Protests: Anarchism in Action|author=Elizabeth Barber / Hong Kong|magazine=Time|access-date=8 November 2014}} Teams of volunteers working in shifts deal with garbage collection and recycling, security and medical care.{{cite news|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/hong-kong-protests-instant-architecture-and-the-occupy-central-village-201|title=Hong Kong protests: Instant architecture and the Occupy Central 'village'|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=23 October 2014|access-date=28 October 2014}}
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20141020153030/http://lennonwall.com/#routePosts Lennon wall notes]