Design Trust Futures Studio – ‘Heritage is Innovation’ Exhibition

25. 9. 2019

DESIGN TRUST FUTURES STUDIO flagship programme is currently on show with public tours and enriching community workshops underway. Under the 2019 theme “Heritage is innovation” designers are matched with mentors to develop new works framed by a curatorial brief and a vision to create new interactive works in the context of the historic Haw Par Mansion. Conceptualized by Lead Curator/ Executive director Marisa Yiu the programme’s mission is to make the powerful and positive cultural assets of Hong Kong more visible, and to find inspirations from the past to shape the future of our creative culture and collective heritage.

Design Trust Futures Studio 2019 curates site-specific objects designed and created by Hong Kong-based designers, who have been involved in the Design Trust foundation as grant recipients and designer mentees in the last years.


Inside and around the mansion are a series of innovative prototypes, installations and narratives that resulted from a 18-month long process through research, archive studies, experimentation and critical making. This year’s programme catalyses and engages in an in-depth process questioning the theme and the constitution of a community under the context of the historic 1936 Haw Par Mansion in Tai Hang, where the famous Tiger Balm gardens once stood. Together the DTFS community have been sculpting the designer-mentees’ current practices, thinking and ideology on heritage, innovation and identity. The collective community of this year’s group has been especially challenged by the richness of the Haw Par site, heritage archives in Hong Kong and new methods of craft and making by exhibition partners, Tai Ping.


Over 100 Hong Kong and international guests, from the design, cultural, and academic communities, representatives from the programme partner: Tai Ping, foundation partner: Haw Par Music, joined an intimate opening event launching the event to the public on the 12th September evening. Curating the design tour via a dance and music performance by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, following the performance throughout the Mansion, the preview of site-specific creative works by DTFS 2019 designer-mentees brought the community together to revel in the works and share more on the rich process of making and fabrication of their works.

Since the opening, DTFS 2019 has received hundreds of visitors and participants , workshops led by our designer mentees, Ire Tsui & Rony Chan’s craft workshop and Xavier Tsang’s Fragrance Tour, respectively, and family-friendly tours throughout the week. Ire & Rony’s creative paper hanging mobile souvenirs were inspired by the Moon Gate’s Stained glass art and various motifs in the mansion, an observation tour was held around the Mansion with them, that involved making their DIY souvenirs in 2D and 3D graphical, characters and motifs inspired by the Mansion to create a collective “souvenir” for participants to take a bit of the mansion home in form of a mobile.


Similarly, in Xavier’s Fragrance Tour, he led participants through a discovery and inspirational tour around the Mansion, where the participants collected different samples of scented plants, herbs and infused ointments hidden in multiple locations of the Mansion, with a vision for participants to refresh and question how collective memories are formed, and how scents and fragrances respond to his research. The tour was a pilot to also envision how audiences of different abilities may also have various opportunities to learn and be inspired with limited visual capacities and ensure exhibitions have universal access and inclusive approaches.



A “Heritage Design Dialogue” and sharing session on 20th September, brought together Michelle Chu (Design Director, Asia Tai Ping), Marisa Yiu (Co-founder/Executive Director, Design Trust; Lead Curator of DTFS) along with co-moderator Arnault Castel (Founder, Kapok) to discuss works by the DTFS 2019 Designers, including Ire Tsui (Co-founder, design*lab), Sharon de Lyster (Founder, Narrative Made), Julie Progin & Jesse Mc Lin (Co-founders, Julie &Jesse) and Christine Lew (Co-founder, Studio Florian and Christine) focusing on ‘Design innovation & Cultural heritage”, highlighting the role of history, identity building, archives in design, and the significance of innovation in materiality, craft-making, and design thinking in contemporary culture.

“Working on the DTFS programme this year is surely an unforgettable experience to me. It gives me great pleasure to work with this group of young designers on such meaningful projects, whilst contributing to the local community and design industry. The collaboration under the theme ‘Heritage is Innovation’, which speaks directly to Tai Ping’s core values, realises the full potential of our knowhow and craftsmanship. The conjoining of traditions and diverse minds from different disciplines and cultures, has been pushing our work to the unexpected yet beautiful boundaries. We thank Design Trust, Marisa and her team for having Tai Ping on this exciting and valuable journey.” - Michelle Chu, Asia Design Director, Tai Ping

 

OVERVIEW INFORMATION:

For more information on new Public tours please see this link.

The Documentary Film

Design Trust would also like to acknowledge and thank you Tai Ping for their incredible support as a Programme partner, Haw Par Music as foundation partner, and thank the DTFS team of designers and mentors who have collaborated in this year’s edition:

Elaine Yan Ling Ng (Designer Mentee, Hong Kong) and Lyndon Neri & Rosanne Hu (International Mentor, Shanghai);

Xavier Tsang (Designer Mentee, Hong Kong) and Michael Young (Hong Kong-based Mentor);

Sharon Tsang-de Lyster (Designer Mentee, Hong Kong) and Brendon Cormier (International Mentor, London);

Ire Tsui, Michael Leung, Rony Chan (Designer Mentees, Hong Kong), Alexander Groves & Azusa Murakami (International Mentors New York/London);

Adonian Chan (Designer Mentee, Hong Kong), Hunter Tura (International Mentor U.S./Canada)

Florian Wegenast & Christine Lew (Designer Mentees, Germany/U.S./Hong Kong), Douglas Young (Hong Kong-based Mentor);

Polly Ho & Andy Wong (Designer Mentees, Hong Kong), Frank Leung & Irene Lai (Hong Kong-based Mentor)

Julie Progin & Jesse Mc Lin (Designer Mentees, Hong Kong), Ho Puay-Peng (International Mentor Singapore, Hong Kong-based Mentor)

Opening event performance by Hong Kong New Music Ensemble – Sara Xiao (Dance), Patrick Yim (Violin), Vicky Shin (percussion);

 

Design Trust Futures Studio Team

Lead Curator: Marisa Yiu;

Assistant Director: Joyce Li;

Exhibition & Event Management Team: Cindy Tai, Wendy Ng, Rocky Chan, Benjamin Li.

More Details on the exhibition and programme booklet here.

Press Release in English and Chinese here.