‘Messi screwed it up for me’: Year of the Dragon illustrations from Post cartoonist Harry Harrison up for auction

Political cartoonist Harry Harrison pays homage to the Year of the Dragon with eight watercolour and ink works that examine Hong Kong’s political landscape

The pieces poke fun at surveillance, the lack of tourism and more. One appears to mock football star Messi, but was created before his ill-fated Hong Kong trip

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“2024… Here Be Dragons” pays homage to the Year of the Dragon with eight watercolour and ink illustrations up for auction that offer a humorous and light-hearted take on Hong Kong’s current political landscape. Photo: Harry Harrison

Published: 4:45pm, 28 Feb 2024Updated: 9:13am, 29 Feb 2024

Following the success of his past two Lunar New Year auctions, political cartoonist Harry Harrison is back with another collection of original illustrations featuring Chinese zodiac animals.

This year’s auction, titled “2024 … Here Be Dragons”, pays homage to the Year of the Dragon with eight watercolour and ink illustrations that offer a humorous and lighthearted take on Hong Kong’s current political landscape.

The illustrations will be up for auction at The Store by the South China Morning Post from 11am (Hong Kong time) on March 4 to 11am on March 8, and bids will open at HK$2,024 (US$259), with bid increments of HK$200. A preview of the collection is available on the website.

“This year, there’s a lot of talk about regenerating, now that we’ve moved away from Covid,” says Harrison, who has been a cartoonist for the Post since 2001. “It’s a bit quieter this year. There’s the mega-event type stuff, trying to boost consumerism, those sorts of things – not as racy as Covid.”

Harry Harrison at his studio. Photo: May Tse

But that does not mean the new set of illustrations are any less thought-provoking or comical.