Design Trust at the 4th Istanbul Design Biennale

14. 12. 2018

On 21st September 2018, Design Trust presented a special Design Dialogue titled “Learning from Heritage” at the 4th Istanbul Design Biennale: A School of Schools. As the first presentation of Design Trust Futures Studio 2019: "Heritage is Innovation" theme as a research programme, the dialogue focused on heritage not as a static subject but a dynamic living and inspiring process.
The event started with a presentation by Marisa Yiu, Co-founder and Executive Director of Design Trust, emphasizing the contribution of the Grants scheme, and the Futures Studio programme in the design ecosystem of the Greater Bay Area, Marisa Yiu explained some of the Design Trust Grant Recipients, and the next iteration of Futures Studio focusing on design and heritage, and the animated definitions of identity, collective memory, and tourism in the context of Hong Kong. Brendan Cormier, Senior Design Curator at V&A Museum in London, talked about the role of the museum and the curator with regards to heritage, the perpetuation of the material culture, and pointed to the notions of authenticity and copying in preserving objects and buildings. Istanbul based PATTU's co-founder Cem Kozar spoke about destruction, heritage, the traumas of continuity and memory, and how as local designers, PATTU approaches these issues in their works. Jana Scholze, Associate Professor at Kingston School of Art, focused on re-considering the canon to understand who is involved in knowledge production, who has the decision power, and criterias in what to collect, and as a consequence how we can address a global design practice. The session was co-moderated by Aric Chen and Merve Bedir.

Speakers:
- Brendan Cormier (Senior Design Curator, V&A Museum, London)
- Cem Kozar (Founding Partner, PATTU, İstanbul)
- Jana Scholze (Associate Professor, Kingston School of Art, London)
- Marisa Yiu (Co-founder / Executive Director, Design Trust, Hong Kong)

Moderators:
- Aric Chen (Curator-at-large for Design and Architecture, M+ Museum, Hong Kong)
- Merve Bedir (Associate Curator, Design Trust, Hong Kong)

Design Trust also participated in “Spaces of Exception Roundtables - Institutions”, where Marisa shared on Design Trust’s initiatives at the roundtable discussion, focusing on the possibilities of cultural institutions in design and pedagogy.

Speakers:
- James Taylor-Foster (Curator of Contemporary Architecture and Design, ArkDes)
- Lev Bratishenko (Senior Online Editor, CCA)
- Angela Rui (Researcher, Het Nieuwe Instituut)
- Ils Huygens (Curator, Z33 – House for contemporary art)
- Aric Chen (Curator-at-large for Design and Architecture, M+)
- Marisa Yiu (Co-founder / Executive Director, Design Trust)
- Onur Yıldız (Senior Public Programmer, SALT)

Respondent:
- Amal Alhaag (Independent Curator)