11.10.2019 – 17.11.2019
3/F, 7 Mallory Street, Wan Chai

Opening Hours
MON – THU 10am – 7pm
FRI – SUN 10am – 8pm

Free Admission

 

OPEN PAGE: THE ART OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

The debut exhibition titled “MATERIAL MODERNITY: INCREDIBLE BAMBOO, PAPER & WOOD” is an extra-special project which looks at the visual culture and language of Asian design through material innovation. This second exhibition, “OPEN PAGE: THE ART OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS”, is an ambitious project which looks into imagination and artistry in the process of content creation — making designs that promote pleasure, enthusiasm and reliability, that communicate and draw attention, and encourage quietness and thought. We never begin with a blank page: every now and then, page by page, a fragment is recalled by another fragment, a new idea forms. Design aims to show dependability in one form or another. Products seek to express feeling of the material, texture and recognition. Space creates warmth and comfort, and the book benefits the eyes, the most obvious attribute of a human being that brings about an immediate emotional reaction, by utilising colours, typography, grid and form.

The hundreds of books and magazines, and dozens of projects related to reading space, products and typography on display in this exhibition emphasise the cross-regional, cross-disciplinary and cross-generational spirit, which becomes an important platform for building cultural dialogue and enriching our aesthetic imagination.

Design Spectrum 設計光譜 - 策展人

CURATOR

Amy Chow is an interdisciplinary design expert and connoisseur with achievements in multiple roles. Trained in multiple creative hubs like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Rome, Amy joined The Hong Kong Design Centre as Design and Project Director (2005-2012), overseeing the DFA Awards, research, professional training workshops and exhibitions. Over the last decade, she has spearheaded numerous critically acclaimed design exhibitions to the local and international audience, including Creative Hong Kong: Project 9707 (2007) which was seen in Vancouver, Milan, London, New York and Seoul, the six-month-long Creative Ecologies of Hong Kong: Business Living Creativity (2010) at the Shanghai World Expo, Creative Ecologies+ (2012) at The Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Imminent Domain: Designing the life of tomorrow (2013), at Asia Society Hong Kong Center and Confluence 20+ (2017), a monumental roving exhibition series which has travelled to Milan, Hong Kong, Seoul and Chicago. As an intellectual and academician, she has lectured in many design institutions and coordinated academic programs.



CURATORIAL STATEMENT

Elements of Asian Design ——
Understanding Asia’s Essential Concepts
in Design and Living
Amy Chow

Despite the inroads made by modernisation and Westernisation, Asian craft, design and fine art continue to add a special dimension to people’s lives. No one can spend even a few days in Japan without being powerfully affected by the traditional culture that remains alive and well. There are few civilisations in which design and quality have played such a significant role in the day-to-day life of the people. Hong Kong design is different, suggesting aesthetic and ethnic kinship through the use of images and materials that are diverse in media and technique, whereas The Mainland, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries use traditional techniques and natural materials. The philosophy and ethics of Asian design are revealed in different scales laden with cultural meaning.

Through curatorial research into the essence of Asian design and beauty, we identify and explain how various elements came to permeate the culture-based philosophies and traditions that have become an integral part of our lives. This themed series of exhibitions highlights specific perspectives on materials, aesthetics, lifestyles and design concepts, and is addressed to designers and enthusiasts who appreciate and care about fine design and quality of life.