For many, Hong Kong conjures images of nocturnal streets, dense and neon-washed, filled with the hum of glowing shopfronts and the vivid reflections of light on rain-slicked pavement.

Yet, the iconic signs that illuminated the city during its golden era are rapidly diminishing in number. Regulatory shifts, urban redevelopment, and changing commercial needs have seen thousands of these historic structures quietly taken down over the last decade, altering the visual character of the city’s streets forever.

This shifting landscape is at the core of Keith Macgregor’s City of Lights exhibition at Blue Lotus Gallery. Macgregor’s photographs serve as a visual archive of Hong Kong’s neon heyday, preserving the atmosphere of past decades on film. His images immortalise iconic signs that have long since vanished from the streets, capturing not just the physical structures, but the memory of a city illuminated by hand-bent glass and glowing gas.

Photography can document what has disappeared, but documentation alone cannot preserve the craft behind it.

Enter architects Kevin Mak and Ken Fung, the duo behind @streetsignhk. Founded in 2017 after the pair salvaged a discarded shop sign in Central, @streetsignhk is a conservation platform dedicated to researching, rescuing, and reinterpreting Hong Kong’s signboard heritage. They have saved over 200 signboards from more than 150 local businesses, stepping in before historic pieces end up in landfills.

We had the pleasure of hosting Kevin and Ken at the gallery this past weekend for a sharing session, where they discussed their work and traced the journey of neon signboards from historical rescue to contemporary design.

They shared the realities of field rescue operations: navigating tight demolition deadlines, complex safety codes, and the physical challenge of removing massive steel and glass structures. Their field research also extends beyond local rescue to international documentation, studying how different global cities manage and value commercial signscapes. Beyond the technicalities, the duo spoke about the importance of preserving local histories, highlighting how every piece of custom lettering reflects the craftsmanship of traditional tube-bending, Chinese calligraphy, and the history of neighbourhood communities.

Rather than treating these rescued objects as static museum relics, @streetsignhk adapts traditional neon craft for contemporary use. To ensure the skill continues to evolve, they design custom shopfront signage for new local businesses, create sculptural public installations such as the Doodle Tree at The Upper House, and develop lightweight modular framing systems like Ne-on-Ne-on, allowing neon works to be transported, assembled, and displayed in exhibitions.

Seen alongside @streetsignhk’s conservation work, Macgregor’s photographs become more than a record of what Hong Kong’s streets once looked like. Together, the two projects show both what has been lost and what is still being preserved.

Keith Macgregor’s City of Lights is on view at Blue Lotus Gallery until October 4.

The Light That Stays On: @streetsignhk and the Conservation of Hong Kong’s Neon Signs

City of Lights: Keith Macgregor on documenting Hong Kong’s lost neon nightscapes