Back Arts & Culture » Culture » [Photos] The Fabulous Lives of Hong Kong's Shop Cats

[Photos] The Fabulous Lives of Hong Kong's Shop Cats

Life as a cat in Hong Kong’s shops is fabulous.

Hong Kong-based visual artist and photographer Marcel Heijnen knew there was something special about the city’s feline residents the moment he relocated to the East Asian hub. The Dutchman began chronicling his encounters with Hong Kong’s lovable cat population on his Instagram account, aptly titled @ChineseWhiskers.

The series quickly gained a massive following, to the point that Heijnen has transformed the collection into a book to be featured in a pop-up exhibition at local gallery Blue Lotus, opening this December.

“In most modern cities there will be all kinds of rules and regulations against cats in shops. Not in Hong Kong, and I’m grateful for that,” he told Creative Boom. “Here we can still witness this wonderful symbiotic relationship between human and feline, and the very reason for it harks back to why we domesticated cats in the first place, centuries ago: mice-catching and companionship.”

“And yes, it’s about the cats. But it kind of isn’t at the same time. It’s just as much about the context; these chaotic-yet-organically-organized traditional Chinese shops that form beautiful photogenic subjects in their own right. Places in which time seems to have stood still, devoid of branding and all the other modern-day retail trickery we’ve grown accustomed to,” Heijnen added.

Take a glimpse into the glorious lives of Hong Kong's feline shop rulers, courtesy of Creative Boom, below:

[Photos via Creative Boom]


Related Articles:

Chinese Netizens Save Cats From Eviction at Local Museum

[Photos] The World’s Fattest Cat May Live in Vietnam

After International Outrage, Vietnam Backpedals on Destroying Thousands of Smuggled Cats


Related Articles

in Culture

10 Incredible Photos Of Life On Hanoi's Train Tracks

Traffic in Vietnam is crazy but the train tracks that skirt through Hanoi’s residential areas reach levels of insanity.

in Culture

10 Photos Of The Amazing Vietnamese Spider-Men

While some Vietnamese cities have begun to move their tangled nests of electricity wires underground, they are still a ubiquitous feature of many urban neighborhoods.

in Culture

12 Of Saigon’s Best Parks And Open Spaces – Part 1

Though Saigon has lost quite a bit of its verdant luster over the years, there are still patches of green throughout the city that are worth checking out. Vietnam Coracle has made a handy guide to som...

in Culture

12 Of Saigon’s Best Parks And Open Spaces – Part 2

Though Saigon has lost quite a bit of its verdant luster over the years, there are still patches of green throughout the city that are worth checking out.Vietnam Coraclehas made a handy guide to some ...

in Culture

14 Incredible Satellite Photos Of Vietnam

There are plenty of hi-tech ways to show Vietnam’s beauty – time lapses and drone panoramas to name a few. But a less common vantage point is from above. Way above.

in Culture

15 Amazing Moments Captured On Vietnam’s Streets

In Vietnamese cities, streets are where life happens. With few parks available to the country’s urban masses, they serve as everything from entertainment venues to wedding halls to restaurants. They a...

Partner Content