Duck, duck, gone: Hongkongers ignore gloomy skies to say farewell to beloved art show cut short by ‘unexpected challenges’

Hundreds of people ignored the gloomy weather on Father’s Day to say their goodbyes to two giant rubber ducks anchored at Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour after organisers earlier announced the art show had been cut short due to “unexpected challenges”.

Tourists and residents alike showed up with umbrellas cautiously in hand and gathered along both sides of the harbour as one of the 18-metre (59-foot) duo travelled to Central, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui for a lunch-hour parade before returning to Wan Chai.

Originally slated to last until June 24, the art show titled “The Double Ducks by Florentijn Hofman” was organised by Hong Kong-based art studio AllRightsReserved and officially opened to the public on June 10.

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One of the ducks left the waters near Admiralty’s Tamar at around 1pm on Sunday, escorted by seven ships under slightly more peaceful skies.

A couple of hours later, onlookers on the harbour’s Kowloon side cheered and snapped photos as the rubber giant passed the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Gregory Kwok, 38, who works in the trading industry, said he had gone to see the ducks with his wife and three-year-old son and described the experience as meaningful.

“It’s very special that I’m able to bring my boy with my wife out to see the duck on the last day, which happens to be on Father’s Day,” he said.

“My son may not understand now, but my wife and I first started dating in 2013 when the duck first came here 10 years ago,” he added, referring to an earlier installation by Hofman that featured a smaller 16.5-metre duck.

“Our first few selfies happened in front of the duck. We got married three years later.”

Yeung Siu-kwan, a 34-year-old marketing officer, said she was “forced” to change her plans so her seven-year-old daughter would not miss out on seeing the art show.

“[The organisers] should not have said earlier that the ducks would stay until June 24. I planned to bring my daughter out next week after she finished her final exam on Tuesday,” she said.

“She has loved rubber ducks since she was little. I don’t know when the giant ducks will be back if we miss them this time.”

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The first rubber duck is leaving the city nine days after the show launched, while the second is expected to bow out on Monday morning.

Homemaker Kimmy Chung Tse-kwan, 42, said she and her husband had also changed plans to ensure their daughters, aged eight and 10, could catch a glimpse of the giant rubber duck passing Tsim Sha Tsui.

“We cancelled our trip to the Chimelong Safari Park [in Guangzhou] with our girls on Saturday after we knew the ducks would leave sooner. The girls wanted to stay for the ducks and left the zoo for the next time,” she said.

“It’s quite upsetting to see them leave early. If [the organisers] want to bring us joy and luck, they shouldn’t have broken such bad news to us.”

Meanwhile, fintech strategist Terrence Yim brought along his two sons aged four and six, but had not known the ducks would be leaving early.

“I just took the boys out to the nearby mall’s play zone like every other Sunday. We will have Father’s Day dinner tonight, though now we can spend some time here and take some pictures,” the 41-year-old said.

The exhibition’s launch on June 10 got off to a flat start after one of the ducks was deflated, with AllRightsReserved saying it made the decision after an inspection found surfaces of the display had stretched during the hot weather.

The art studio later said it had decided to end the exhibition early, citing “unexpected challenges” and “taking into account various factors, such as operational costs”. A source had said the installation cost millions of Hong Kong dollars.

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Dutch artist Hofman earlier said his artwork was “a challenging installation” and the weather was always a “paramount challenge”, but was glad Hongkongers had been very supportive of the show.

He said he had hoped to spread “double happiness” this time around by creating two ducks.

Hong Kong has mounted a citywide celebration of the ducks’ arrival, rolling out themed carriages at the Ngong Ping 360 cable cars as well as ferries, trams and MTR station displays.