Unidentified Acts of Design
Prototyping Progress. Image Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum.
Site visiting of a flour factory in Shenzhen. Image Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum.
Documenting the working process of a worker. Image Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum.
Unidentified Acts of Design formed a ‘testing ground’ for the development of themes and content for the V&A Gallery in Shekou (opened in early 2017). The research project explores unconventional instances of design in Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area outside of the usual context of a design studio. The project interviewed key stakeholders in this expanded field. An exhibition was presented at the Urbanism and Architecture Bi-City Biennale (UABB) 2015, which explored 8 stories, supplemented by an oral history documentation that highlights innovation in the context of industrial Shenzhen. This prompted further investigation of the Shenzhen design landscape in the lead up to the opening of the V&A Gallery at Shekou Design Museum in 2017.
Unidentified Acts of Design formed a ‘testing ground’ for the development of themes and content for the V&A Gallery in Shekou (opened in early 2017). The research project explores unconventional instances of design in Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area outside of the usual context of a design studio. The project interviewed key stakeholders in this expanded field. An exhibition was presented at the Urbanism and Architecture Bi-City Biennale (UABB) 2015, which explored 8 stories, supplemented by an oral history documentation that highlights innovation in the context of industrial Shenzhen. This prompted further investigation of the Shenzhen design landscape in the lead up to the opening of the V&A Gallery at Shekou Design Museum in 2017.
The project aims to show how in a region of unprecedented growth, which has long served as the factory of the world, design acts can take on unconventional forms and occur in unpredictable places.
Milestones
2015.Q2
Project awarded Design Trust Feature Grant
2015.12-2016.02
The “Unidentified Acts of Design” exhibition is curated as part of Urbanism and Architecture Bi-city Biennale (UABB) 2015 and the V&A Gallery opened at the Shekou Design Museum in Shenzhen
2016.05
The project is presented at the “Unidentified Acts of Design Public Lecture” at the Asia Society
2017.12
The “Values of Design” exhibition is launched at the V&A Gallery in Shenzhen
- 2015 - 2016
- Grantee: Brendan Cormier, Luisa Mengoni
- Organisation: Victoria and Albert Museum
Brendan Cormier is the lead curator of 20th and 21st century design for the Shekou Project at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where he is charged with curating a major gallery of objects from the V&A collection for the new Shekou Design Museum. Prior to this he was the managing editor of Volume magazine, an Amsterdam-‐based quarterly on architecture and urbanism. In 2014 he curated Tortona Stories, an exhibition about production in the Italian countryside, which was featured at the Venice Architecture Biennale, as well as serving as Assistant Curator for the first ever Iranian Pavilion at the same Biennale.
Formerly Curator of Chinese Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Dr Luisa E. Mengoni is currently on a three-‐ year secondment in Shenzhen as Head of the V&A Gallery at Shekou, where she supervises the V&A’s collaboration with China Merchants Group (CMG) for the establishment of the Shekou Design Museum. Back in London she contributed to major V&A gallery projects and in 2012 co-‐curated an exhibition on ceramics at the National Museum of China. Holding a PhD in Chinese archaeology (UCL) she undertook extensive archaeological fieldwork in Sichuan and Yunnan and worked in Guizhou and Chongqing as a cultural heritage consultant for the World Bank. She taught Chinese art and archaeology at post-‐graduate level and supervised students at UCL and SOAS. She is currently interested in the new developments of Chinese design and crafts, from education to design practices and innovative solutions, and in the emergence of new museum models - private and public ‐ in China.
- Project Progress: Urbanism and Architecture Bi-city Biennale (UABB) 2015 - Unidentified Acts of Design
Date: 5 December 2015 – 28 February 2016
Venue: Shenzhen, China
The display explores 8 stories about design and production in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta. It was initiated as a pilot project to help us explore more thoroughly Shenzhen’s design and production landscape in the lead-up to the opening of the V&A Gallery at the Shekou Design Museum in 2017. The display was honoured with a Bronze Dragon award by an independent jury.
The team curated the show in a flour factory. Image Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum.
- Project Result: Unidentified Acts of Design Public Lecture
Date: 13 May 2016
Venue: Miller Theatre, Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty
Public Sharing at Asia Society. Image Courtesy of Design Trust.
Public Sharing at Asia Society. Image Courtesy of Design Trust.
Event Poster. Image Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum.