LOCAL
Smile like you mean it
Elsa Jeandedieu Studio is on a mission to spread joy one smiling face mural at a time. By Melanie Cox
While Covid-19 may be invisible to the eye, the sea of facemasks around Hong Kong is still very visible. We are lucky to have held up a united front and respectfully uphold measures and keep multiple waves of the virus at bay, however, there is an undeniable dip in sense of morale thanks to the extended period of upended school, travel and social life. It was during these unprecedented times that Elsa Jeandedieu Studio devised a plan to donate their time and resources to the community in a simple yet powerful way that could turn any frown upside down - even if beneath a face mask. The answer was the universal language of art. The #shareasmilehk series has seen smile murals painted on NGO and charity walls across the city in January. Elsa states, “I’ve always dreamed of painting smiles around the city, so this project was originally aimed at charity venues, where the artists would paint for free to donate smiles to the community”. By February, it became difficult for Elsa
16 | hongkongliving.com