Where Do We Belong

Since the National Security Law passed in 2020, over 256,000 Hong Kong citizens have left the city to find themselves a new home. Being one of those who try to set foot on new land, I arrived in the United Kingdom during the summer two years ago. I moved between several places to settle as a student. I was lucky enough to reunite with my mum a year later here. But I still found it difficult to refer to where I live as “home.”

While COVID happened, the HK government banned planes from the UK for a long time. It was my first time leaving HK for such a long time ever since I was born. This summer, I had the chance to go back to HK to stay for a month. Everything felt so different yet similar. Some of my family and friends left just like I did. So much has changed within two years. I no longer felt that “bond” I used to have with this place. Looking at the same city with the eyes of a migrant, I suddenly feel like I belong nowhere.

During those dinner dates, my friends would ask about my plan for the near future. Funny enough, I could never give them an answer about where I will be heading next. I guess I am still looking for answers to this question.

…

“For one could say that we know something simply by its counter-part; that we know night through day, light through dark, presence through absence, remembering through forgetting and, I would argue, involvement through disengagement.”

No Place - Like Home, Lily Markiewicz (2007)

“Where Do We Belong” is a project about memory, self-identity and belonging by UK-based Hong Kong photographer Victoria Li. After leaving her homeland for two years, the photographer returned to the city after two years with a new perspective. To her surprise, so much has changed in such a short time. The streets, the people, and the city suddenly felt so distant from what she remembered. The word “home” no longer felt so welcoming or warm. It feels like she belongs nowhere. The photographs are a documentation of her diasporic experience as well as a journey for her to learn about herself amongst the ups and downs.