Design Trust Call for Grants: October 2023 cycle

Design Trust 2023 October Grant Application is now open. Since its establishment in 2014, Design Trust has been offering grant support to individual designers, curators, collectives as well as non-profit organisations. We would encourage community-based proposals in this cycle to foster public engagement and community participation and international research programmes focusing on Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. Share with us your ideas and proposals by 20th October 2023. We are also pleased to announce the Grant Recipients from the 2023 July grant cycle. The upcoming projects include research topics on Hong Kong architecture, wearable technology and interactive game design.

Design Trust offers grants to individual designers, curators, collectives and non-profit organisations for projects and activities that are relevant to various design disciplines. These grants support projects relevant to the context and content of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. Cities within the Greater Bay Area include: the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province. We support innovative, thought-provoking investigations in various design disciplines from graphics, media, wearables, architecture to the built environment; and actively aim to accelerate creative design and research development of meaningful projects. These projects include but are not limited to: talks, exhibitions, residencies, research projects and creative installations.

DESIGN TRUST SEED GRANT fosters a culture of experimentation, testing and sharing. It is awarded to individuals seeking to kick-start a meaningful and intellectual project with social, educational, economical or environmental impact for communities. Seed Grants may support applicants who have a project in the pipeline that needs additional resources, as well as emerging designers, and young scholars. Design Trust highly encourages applicants from Hong Kong and the region to apply for this grant to support projects with international events, symposiums or biennales to showcase prototypes, or works relevant to architecture.

DESIGN TRUST FEATURE GRANT fosters cross-disciplinary projects focusing on the Greater Bay Area region. Projects awarded have a wide-reaching audience and may be sited in an exhibition or biennale venue with international recognition and standing. This grant supports global exchanges between a Hong Kong/ China based collective with an international renowned cultural institution. It aims to excel, share and build new knowledge and unique positions on the value of design, critical research and provocative outcomes.

Grant Recipients from the 2023 July Grant cycle:

“RAW” by Eason Tsang Ka Wai, presents photo documentation and research on the entire construction process of M+ museum in Hong Kong from 2014. The project encompasses a photobook publication, along with a photography exhibition. Eason will use photographic typology methods to study the formation of space, how space shapes human behaviour as well as the workers, who participated in shaping the space towards the architectural design while adapting to the changing construction environment in which they are working. Through the format of photography, the project responds to the current discourses on how space is produced through a complex system.

“VISBUD - Wearable technology for the visually impaired community” by Winnie Heung Tsz Kwan, aims to develop wearable devices for blind and visually impaired individuals to enhance their mobility and independence. Blind and visually impaired individuals face significant challenges in perceiving and navigating their surroundings. Traditional tools such as white canes and guide dogs offer limited assistance, leaving them reliant on additional help and support. This project addresses limitations by researching, testing and designing wearable devices in incorporating advanced technologies and innovative features. These devices will utilise voice commands, sensor-based technologies, and voice output to help individuals identify and locate objects and people with greater ease and accuracy while providing direct feedback and alerts to indicate the surroundings.

“interMISSION: Experiencing Games for Change” curated by Games for Change Hong Kong, presents a series of workshops showcasing serious games created by Hong Kong designers. These experiential sessions explore various topics, such as climate change and poverty, demonstrating the educational and impact potential of games. The final session of the series will be a game design workshop, providing participants with an opportunity to design a serious game of their own, fostering creativity and innovation and promoting the use of games and interactive media for social good. Through interMISSION, the Games for Change Hong Kong team not only highlights the work of Hong Kong designers but also creates a platform for exploring the intersection of games, interactive media, and pressing societal issues. The initiative encourages critical thinking, empathy, and problem-solving skills, harnessing the power of games to educate, advocate, and drive positive change.

“Tolerance and Transformation” symposium and publication led by Donn Holohan, academic from the University of Hong Kong, aims to foster a fresh dialogue on the future of architectural production centred on tolerance, which encompasses both human and material relationships and is fundamentally driven by care and openness. This symposium seeks to refocus the debate through a reassessment of our perceptions of risk as a fundamental step towards affecting the changes necessary for a sustainable future. The urgent demand to transform our industry necessitates the development of new frameworks that prioritise and facilitate experimentation and accommodate unconventional materials and approaches to construction. This symposium will bring together a diverse community of architects, designers, and makers who, through their respective practices, have discovered ways of navigating uncertainty in the architectural production today.