Art, Culture, and More

Design Made in Hong Kong

Giving voice to the new generation of designers and creating a bilateral exchange between Milan and Hong Kong: with these objectives, the “Design Made in Hong Kong 2020-2021” project develops a full program of events, which began in October 2020 and will culminate during the Milan Design Week 2021.

Born on initiative of Stefano Fossati, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong in collaboration with NMG - Association 5VIE, the program curated by Annalisa Rosso and Mr.Lawrence studio does not only intend to export Made in Italy to Hong Kong, but also follow the growth of the new generation of Chinese designers who, in one of the most innovative and evolving global contexts, combine traditional techniques and knowledge with the operating methods of the contemporary world.

With a complex system of physical and virtual tools, the research brings together three emerging Italian designers - Federica Biasi, Federico Peri and Sara Ricciardi - with as many educational institutions: Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Design Institute and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – School of Design.

Sara Ricciardi, Federico Peri e Federica Biasi

The students’ projects are developed together with excellent partners: the Milanese Post Design gallery and the Chinese companies Bamboo International (Group) Co. Ltd., TCL Multimedia Technology Holding Ltd and The Hong Kong Furniture and Decoration Association.

The long-term exchange began with a series of webinars in which the designers told not only their practice but also the whole complex design universe that Made in Italy is.

On the occasion of the next Business of Design Week in Hong Kong, the website www.designmadeinhongkong.com will be launched, which collects all the developments of the activities, an archive of past works by Biasi, Peri and Ricciardi and some of the most iconic projects of Italian Design. To celebrate the Italian Design Day 2020 in Hong Kong, a round table will also be held on 30 November 2020 at 9.30 (CEST) in which all the actors involved - institutions, schools, partners, curators and designers - will discuss the perspectives of initiative.

But the ultimate goal of this long and complex process is to physically exhibit the students’ works during Milan Design Week, in the spaces of SIAM 1838, in the 5Vie Art + Design district and at the Post Design gallery. On this occasion we will finally see the completed works physically dialogue with each other. Mr. Lawrence is a consultancy agency for contemporary design based in Milan, founded by Annalisa Rosso, journalist and curator, and Francesco Mainardi, brand strategist, creative director and professor of Design Management at the Marangoni Institute.

5Vie is the Glocal Cultural Network of Milan, located in the oldest and most historic district of the city, which aims to develop new ways of public-private partnership to become the expression of a cutting-edge “system”. The 5Vie network is a meeting point for different creative cultures (art, design, fashion, crafts, food culture, etc); with the “5Vie art + design” project, developed for Milan Design Week, it has acquired international visibility and recognition as a reference center for research design.

The Italian Cultural Institute of Hong Kong (ICI), currently directed by Stefano Fossati, has been active since 2011 as an official Italian government body dedicated to the promotion of the Italian language and culture in Hong Kong and Macao through the organization of cultural events. Together with the Italian Cultural Institutes of Beijing and Shanghai, it is one of the three cultural agencies of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China. At the heart of ICI’s mission is the encouragement of the development of academic exchanges, the support of visual arts exhibitions and the promotion of Italian studies.

Follow us on your favourite social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram or Twitter – or subscribe to our YouTube channel to see some of our live events that you might have missed.

facebook.com/iichongkong | instagram.com/italianculturalinstitute.hk twitter.com/IICHongKong | youtube.com/iichongkong

To learn more about upcoming Italian events you may contact:

Italian Cultural Institute, c/o Consulate General of Italy Hong Kong Suite 3201, 32/F Central Plaza 18, Harbour Road, Wanchai - Hong Kong www.iichongkong.esteri.it | iichongkong@esteri.it