Design Trust Upcoming Grants & Programmes Highlights | September 2025
29. 8. 2025
DESIGN TRUST PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS: We are pleased to share a selection of ongoing grants and upcoming programme events in September 2025, from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, Shanghai to Venice, exploring topics of textile research and heritage, self-publishing and zine culture, Hong Kong public markets and public space. Mark your calendar and visit the exhibitions and events supported by Design Trust grants and fellowship schemes!
Hong Kong
August 30th - October 18th
Design Trust Seed Grant research exhibition “RE:SEW FOR FUTURE” led by Sylvia Lai and Toby Crispy at “In time of” on 1F Airside, Kai Tak, invites the public to revisit the craftsmanship and local tradition of garment-making in Hong Kong, while reimagining the future of textile and community through a series of participatory activities. Through showcasing sewing machines and clothes-making tools, from different eras, the exhibition delves into their historical layers, bridging the past with the future, restoring the intrinsic value of clothing and fostering a zero-waste culture and material circularity.
September 17th - 20th
Design Trust Seed Grant research exhibition “Order within Chaos: The Culture Behind Hong Kong’s Market Objects” led by Veera Fung and Melody Yiu at 618 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok, uncovers the creative uses of market objects and the underlying forces that shape them. The study focuses on three markets in Mongkok: the Fa Yuen Street Municipal Services Building, the Fa Yuen Street Market, and the Flower Market, each reflecting a unique market typology, spatial characteristics, operational mechanism, and everyday practices. The research exhibition illustrates how vendors’ everyday lives and practices unfold in Hong Kong’s markets, the challenges they encounter, and the inventive ways they adapt, providing a new understanding of Hong Kong’s vibrant market culture.
September 20th, 3:00-4:00pm
Design Trust partners with Soho House Hong Kong on the panel talk “Transforming Culture - The Future of Asian Heritage & Design” at Soho House Hong Kong, Sheung Wan. The panel speakers include renowned designer Teo Yang (Korea) well known for his hanok in Bukchon, Seoul and brand Eath Library; Marc Cansier (Hong Kong), Co-Founder of Marc & Chantal involved in projects for Tai Kwun HK and The Opposite House, Beijing, alongside Co-Founder, Lead Curator/ Executive Director of Design Trust, Marisa Yiu (Hong Kong). From Design Trust’s recent "the Art of Transformation" project at a 19th Century historic building in HK, to elevating the power of design in the community, designers and curators are invited to share from their unique cultural perspectives on shaping city identity, culture and visionary projects. Please register here to join the event.
September 20th - October 13th
Design Trust Seed Grant exhibition programme “ZINE YO! FEST” led by Forrest Lau, Beatrix Pang and Jason Li of Zine Coop at Heath, Chungking Mansions, Tsim Sha Tsui, presents a vibrant month-long celebration of DIY publishing, experimental print art, and zine culture, organised by zine publishers’ collective ZINE COOP, serving as Hong Kong's creative nexus while connecting communities across the Greater Bay Area and East/Southeast Asia. The 2025 edition features a zine market with more than 60 local and international exhibitors, a curated exhibition of zines from regional creators, with hands-on workshops in risograph, bookbinding, and zine-making bridging the creative zine community across borders.
Shanghai
September 18th - December 20th
Design Trust Feature Grant research “The World of Lines” by Rui An Ho presents at his exhibition “Chronologies”, at Institute of Contemporary Arts at NYU Shanghai, that examines the history of the textile industry between the ends of two major river systems in China, namely the Pearl River and the Yangtze River. With a focus on the shifting relations between labour, technology, and capital, the project considers the industry’s origins in Shanghai and its surrounding cities in the late nineteenth century, its displacement to Hong Kong in the 1940s through the 1970s and its “return” to the mainland through technological and capital flows as Hong Kong began deindustrialising in the 1980s. Building upon years of fieldwork and archival research across the two regions, the project culminates in a feature-length artistic documentary and book that present the different stories and perspectives collected by the artist and his collaborators.
Shenzhen
On view now till September 21st
Design Trust Seed Grant “Novo Typo Offgrid Expo” led by Mark van Wageningen at the Sea World Culture and Arts Center, Shenzhen, explores how a self-sufficient and sustainable design practice adapts to the Chinese context. The exhibition is centered around three fundamental elements: letters, paper, and ink. Using local materials from Shenzhen, it demonstrates how these foundational components can be created sustainably, adapting the Dutch design philosophy to the Chinese environment. By visually translating a universal design concept into the Chinese context, the exhibition fosters dialogue with local designers, students, and other participants. The research will also be presented at the upcoming Unfold Shanghai Art Book Fair in September 2025.
Venice
On view now till November 23rd
Design Trust Futures Studio Micro-parks and research projects supported by Design Trust grants at “Projecting Future Heritage: A Hong Kong Archive” at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 Hong Kong Exhibition curated by Design Trust grant recipients Ying Zhou and Fai Au, with Sunnie SY Lau. Highlighted projects also include “By Us For Us: Future Proof Narratives of a Third Housing for Hong Kong” by Guillaume Othenin-Girard & Kent Mundle, “Estate Centres, Postwar Public Amenities in Hong Kong Public Housing” by Jeffrey Cheng and Kris Provoost, “Social Condenser Extraordinaire: Hong Kong’s Municipal Services Buildings” by Ying Zhou and Fai Au, and “Photovoltaic Hybrids: Hong Kong’s Experiment on Climate-Responsive Architecture” by Emily Po & Quentin Yiu.
Upcoming
Open House Hong Kong 2025, November
Open House Hong Kong organising committee supported by Design Trust Impact Grant composed of former grant recipients, scholars, urbanists to design enthusiasts, all united by a shared passion for the city’s architectural heritage, will be bringing back Open House Hong Kong 2025 edition. Opening up over 60-70 buildings, public spaces through architectural tours, interdisciplinary dialogues, volunteer training, and more, the second edition of 'Open House Hong Kong', is an Impact Grant Programme of Design Trust and will return on the weekends of 22th–23rd and 29th–30th November 2025. Please stay posted for more news.