Cage houses, sub-divided houses, cubicle houses, pavilion houses, coffin houses… The living environment is crowded and harsh. The problem of “housing poverty” has plagued hundreds of thousands of grassroots for many years. Fell into a desperate predicament, SoCO will launch a brand new physical exhibition centre for poverty living environment 2023 – “Trapped Experience Centre Exhibition”, so that visitors can feel and experience the poor living conditions of grassroots.

The Trapped Experience Centre is composed of three major axes, including a one-to-one restoration of the reality of grassroots housing. There are cubicles and pavilions where several groups share a toilet and kitchen, allowing participants to feel that “living is stressful and hard to live in.” . The homeless and those grassroots will turn into tour guides, telling their life stories. Frontline social workers are also present to lead the discussion, inspiring participants to reflect on Hong Kong’s poverty alleviation and housing policies.

Grassroots laborers are working hard to contribute to a better city life, but it is difficult for them to benefit from the prosperity of economy. There are a lot of deformed housing types, and the poor are forced to live in sub-divided houses, board houses, cage houses, space capsules, etc., sleeping with lice and worms, suffering countless sleepless nights, and some people even have to sleep on the street, shrinking corner….

This is Hong Kong, our city, that we are familiar and unfamilar.