Japanese cultural events in London

Being one of the most multicultural and diverse cities in the world, it is easy to find different arts and cultural events in London including many Asian-related ones.

Since June I have attended several Japanese cultural events which offer a glimpse of the past, current and future arts scene in Japan. As someone who sources from different parts of Asia, it is not just the designs that matter, but understanding the culture, people and habits is equally important to what I do.

Firstly, I went to see a new play “Super Premium Soft Double Vanilla Rich” by Japan’s most exciting theatre director, Toshiki Okada at the LIFT festival. Interestingly, the play was shown at Artsdepot in North Finchley, which is a very ‘off’ West end theatre location!

Okada founded the company, chelfitsch in 1997, and the name is the baby-like disarticulation of the English word “selfish.” It is meant to evoke the social and cultural characteristics of today’s Japan, not least of Tokyo.

 

A clip of the play on Youtube (with commentary in Italian)

 

Set in a typical Japanese convenience store (where I spent most of my pastime when I am in Japan), the play takes a darkly humorous glance at Japanese consumerism through slacker language, meditative movement accompanied by J-pop and J. S. Bach. Okada‘s theatrical language is unique, bizarre and its intentional sluggishness is probably not be everyone’s cup of tea (judging from the audience’s reactions).

I am not sure if it was due to the language or subtitle issue, but I felt that something was lost in translation. There were some humourous and capitivating moments but there were also confusing and boring moments. I thought the concept sounded better on paper but the play somewhat failed to deliver what it promised.

 

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Seiichi Hayashi in conversation with Ryan Holmberg

 

Seiichi Hayashi is a legendary illustrator and manga artist in Japan, so I was excited when I found out the artist was in town to talk about his work. The talk with Dr Ryan Holmberg (an art and comics historian) took place at Japan Foundation and it was as expected, a sold out event!

In Japan, Hayashi is most famous for his illustrations feauring a young girl in kimono (see below) for Lotte‘s Koume plum candies, which debuted in 1974 and are being used 40 years later! He has been a leading figure in the avant-garde cultural scene of late 1960s and early 1970s Tokyo, and was a regular contribuor to the iconic manga magazine Garo.

 

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Lotte’s Koume candies, available at the Japan centre in Piccadilly

 

It was interesting to hear the artist talked about his previous projects, spanning from illustrations, comics, animations to art etc. Yet what struck me most was when Hayashi said that he doesn’t like to repeat himself, so he is always exploring new territories. And this I think is the most crucial mindset for any one who in the creative industry (to break boundaries and test new grounds), despite how old or successful you are.

 

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Macoto Murayama’s talk at the Japan Foundation

 

The second event I attended at the Japan Foundation was a talk by a young Japanese digital artitst, Macoto Murayama. Murayama first studied architecture before switching to design and information systems.

Murayama‘s passion for plants, traditional botantical illustrations and 3-d graphics has allowed the artist to develop work that is truly unique and beautiful. His detailed dissections of flowers and plants in digital format are not so different from architect’s blue prints of buildings. Interestly, the artist does not rely solely on technology during his design process, he actually begins the process by using traditional methods like dissecting and sketching (see video below).

 

An interesting behind-the-scene video of the artist’s design process by Autodesk in San Francisco

 

Murayama‘s work reveals what can be achieved with digital technology and the possibilities of adopting and applying it in other fields. Murayama spent six months of 2013 living and working at Metal Culture in Southend-on-Sea working on UK indegenous flowers. Now the results are being presented at a new exhibition, “Botech Compositions: New work by Macoto Muryama in Metal Culture’s Liverpool base, Edge Hil Station for the first time in the UK. The exhibition is part of the Liverpool Biennale and will be on display until 26th October.

 

Macoto Murayama and Lenta, “Botech Composition-1” by Frantic Gallery & Abandoned Audio
 
 

Clerkenwell design week 2014

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Top & bottom left: The Familoe building; Top middle: Kenneth Grange’s talk; St James’s church; Bottom right: Studio Weave‘s Smith pavilion

 

Over the years, I have witnessed the Clerkenwell design week growing bigger and now it has become one of the important international design events. Aside from the several main venues, showrooms, shops, and even eateries in the area would take part in the 3-day event (not exactly a week as its name suggests). I was glad to learn that our Japanese supplier, DI CLASSE would be taking part at the event and that their chief designer/owner, Domei Endo would be coming over from Japan as well.

The main venue, Familoe Building has been named as the ‘Design Factory’ this year. Aside from furniture, lighting and retail units, it also hosted free seminars. I attended Kenneth Grange’s talk and as always he is funny, humble and down-to-earth, it is hard to believe that he is 85 already. He is truly amazing and inspiring.

 

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Top left: Kyoto floor lamp by Stellar Works; Top middle: The Ming chairs by Neri & Hu for Stellar Works ; Top right: Catellani & Smith‘s Stchu-Moon; Bottom left: Vibia lighting; Bottom middle: Cuore LED candles by DI CLASSE

 

DI CLASSE’s stall was on the top floor of the building which was solely dedicated to lighting. I was introduced to Mr Endo who founded his company in 1990 in Japan and has continued to grow ever since. I was later informed that Mr Endo‘s lighting received a lot of interests at the show, so it was a successful event for them.

 

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Top left & right: the Order of St Johns; Main: Live painting at a showroom

 

Other venues included the Order of St Johns (Detail), the House of Detention (Platform) and a new venue, Crypt on the Green (Additions). It was refreshing to see many young designers and new companies showing at the latter venues instead of the usual big names.

 

Torqued Bowls designed by Nichole Cross and David Morgan from Wasatch design collective  Sarah DehandschutterIMG_8313IMG_8319georgoehlerJuliette Bigley Brooksbank & Collins's Me-Far TriaYas-ming ceramics Chisel & Mouse

Top left: Torqued Bowls designed by Nichole Cross and David Morgan from Wasatch design collective; Top right: Sarah Dehandschutter‘s beautiful knitted fabric lamps; 2nd row middle: Robert Scott‘s Roxanne; 2nd row right: Georg Oehler‘s Nagoire Light Case; 3rd row left: Juliette Bigley; 3rd row right: Brooksbank & Collins‘s Me-Far Tria; Bottom left: Yas-ming ceramics; Bottom right: Chisel & Mouse‘s architectural sculptures

 

One of most interesting exhibitions during the event was ‘Tailor my Tom Vac’ exhibition at Vitra‘s showroom celebrating 15 years of Ron Arad‘s iconic Tom Vac chair. Vitra invited the 22g designers/design studios to interpret the brief: ‘to explore both novelty and memory in design, art and architecture’ with no restrictions on medium or discipline, in line with Arad’s original response.

The winner was Hawkins\Brown‘s ‘Pamela’, the designers extended the legs and turned the chair into a lifeguard chair. And its name paid homage to the famous baywatch star.

 

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Ron Arad’s Tom Vac chair exhibition/competition at Vitra – Top right: ‘Get into the Groove ’97’ by ID:SR; Bottom left: ‘Tom Woof’ by Coffey Architects; Bottom middle: ‘mVac+ don’t sit, just listen…’ by Scott Brownrigg; Bottom right: ‘Transforming objects into memories’ by Studio Tilt

 

 

Maison et objet Asia 2014

I did not expect to take so long to write about Shanghai (I envy bloggers who publish daily entries), hence this blog entry on Maison et Objet Asia is much delayed…

Less than a week after my trip to Shanghai, I was off to Singapore to attend the first Maison et Objet show in Asia and Singapore design week. For those who have been to the biannual shows in Paris would know how tiring it is to wander through halls after halls of designer products and furniture. By scale, this Asian edition was much smaller, hence, it didn’t take too long to wander around the 14,000 sq ft of space. 265 brands from 24 countries were featured here and about 30% of them were from Asia.

 

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Top left: Alur Lamp by Ong Cen Kuang; 2nd row: Schema by Kalikasan Crafts; 2nd row left, middle & bottom left: Kenneth Cobonpue & his Trame chair; Bottom right: Vases at Serax

 

One surprise from the show was to see a Filipino section festuring several well-established and young designer brands from The Philippines. Filipino design is probably not as well-known outside of Asia, but its strong craft heritage is one of its strengths that is helping it to become more recognised internationally. And one of the best representative is Kenneth Cobonpue, who was awarded Designer of Year at the show. Cobonpue is known for using nature as his inspiration, he focuses on natural material and uses local craftsmanship to create furniture and products that suit contemporary living. Judging from the long queue of fans wanting to be photographed with the designer, it’s hard not to consider him as a design celebrity!

Schema by Kalikasan Crafts is another Filipino brand that is expanding internationally. The company hired young Thai designer, Anon Pairo to design their new lighting collection inspired by industrial loft. Many of their designs are made from metal wires that have been mold into various patterns through traditional weaving techniques, and they are all handmade by local artisans.

Another interesting lighting and home accessories brand is Ong Cen Kuang from Bali established in 2008. Their handmade lighting collections focus on the combination of tactile materials, infusion of self develop technique and traditional origami.

 

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Thai showcase – Top left: Pana objects; top rigt: Pim Sudhikam; 2nd row right: The pavilon; Bottom left: Ceramic ware from Chiang Mai; 2nd row left: Tom Dixon; 2nd row middle: Ango lighting from Thailand; Bottom right: apaiser bathtub

 

I have always been a fan of Thai designs, yet I have often had issues negotiating with Thai companies… Big companies only want to deal with bulk orders, while small design studios struggle with pricing, and so we are only carrying two brands (Zequenz and Goodjob) from Thailand at the moment. At the Thai showcase pavilion, I spotted a young company that I have previously contacted before… Pana objects, which makes wonderful wooden stationery and objects. Another designer that caught my eye was Pim Sudhikam‘s simple yet distinctive (often with blue underglaze) ceramics. Outside of the pavilion, Ango is an award-winning lighting brand that merges nature with technology, and most of the materials used are natural and sustainable.

 

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Rising Asian talents: Top right & 2nd row left: Mike Mak from Hong Kong; 2nd row middle: Denny R. Priyatna from Thailand; 3rd row: Yu Fen Lo from Taiwan; Bottom: Melvin Ong from Singapore; 2nd row right: Wewood from Portugal 

 

One of the most exciting part of these design or trade shows is the discovery of new talents or products. And at this show, six promising designers from the region were awarded as ‘Rising Asian Talents’ and were given the opportunity to showcase their designs. I spoke to Mike Mak from Hong Kong (whom I have contacted before regarding his rather fun Eyeclock) and he explained to me about his display which featured flibre-glass designs inspired by ancient/traditional Chinese characters or Chinese poems: a fruit holder inspired by the word ‘field’, a ladder inspired by the word ‘moon’ but my favourite is the vases that depict the life cycle of flowers through the presence/ absence of the flowers.

Then I met the young designer from Singapore, Melvin Ong, who used to study and live in London. Melvin is the designer behind Desinere, and I love his Japanese/origami-inspired designs. I then found out that he has collaborated with the well-respected Japanese metal casting craft manufacturer, Nousaku to create a beautiful set of bronze and brass Fouetté facetted paperweight spintops. It is always encouraging to see more young designers collaborating with traditional craftsmen to create new and fresh designs.

Pinyen creative from Taiwan is another company that I have previous spoken to when they exhibited at Tent London 2 years ago. Yu-Fen Lo is the designer behind the brand and their designs are often inspired by nature with functionality and sustainability in mind.

The other three designers were: Denny R. Priyatna from Indonesia, Lilianna Manaham from the Philippines and Sittivhai Ngamhongtong from Thailand.

 

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Top left: Tom Dixon’s talk; top right: Vincent Gregoire from Nelly Rodi giving a talk on trend forecasting; Bottom: Y’A PAS LE FEU AU LAC

 

Last but not least, seminars given by designers, architects and industry insiders are often highlights of the trade events. The key speaker at this show was Tom Dixon (originally it was advertised as Oki Sato from Nendo) and it attracted so many people that it was not even possible to get into the seating area ( as I mentioned earlier, the celebrity culture in the design world is more evident than ever). Yet I was more interested in talks on Asia’s new e-commerce and trend forecasting given by Vincent Gregoire from Nelly Rodi.

There was a lot of information on past and future, and here is a brief summary of some of the key points from his talk:

The decade from 2010 focuses more on the ‘slow’ and back to basics lifestyle, so we have seen slow cooking, fashion and an emphasis on moral values. Developed countries are also moving from consumption to collaboration in businesses and other aspects.

From 2020, it is predicted that ‘fast’ period will return, emphasising on flexibility, multipasses and multimedium.

The four major design trends of 2015 are categorised into 4 categories:

1. Promised land by pioneers ( nomadic, rustic, self-prduction, nomadic pop-up, functional asethetics, down to earth colours)

2. Sacred fire by Conquistadors (passionate, stimulating, energy, truth, whistle blower, feel good, New bling, playful, fire reference colours like gold and ash)

3. Deep dive by Atlanteans ( aquatic, experimental, Baroque, mermaids, organic, jelly, surrealistic, seaweed tones)

4. Air cosmos by Nextplorers (futuristic, experimental, new frontiers, Dyson-think tank, Gravity, Daft punk, Star Wars, astrology, whites, black and yellow)

If you can make sense of the above, then congratulations!

Although I was slightly disappointed with the scale and the numbers of Asian brands that took part, I was glad that the event coincided with the Singapore design week and International furniture fair ( see my next entries) where I managed to spot many new Asian talents. I hope that there will be more Asian participants at the show next year as I believe that Asian designs have yet to reach its full potential in the global market.

 

Design Shanghai 2014

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The exterior of Shanghai exhibition centre

 

For my annual trip to Asia this year, I decided to skip Japan and opted for Singapore to visit Maison et objet Asia ( the first show outside of Paris) and Singapore design week. But I also wanted to make a trip to China to find out more about their current design scene… and I came across Design Shanghai 2014, which coincided with my dates, hence I decided to check out the event.

Before my trip, I found out that the event would be organised by Media 10 Ltd, a British company that organises 100% design, Ideal Home show and Clerkenwell Design Week etc. And judging from the show’s partners and collaborations ( and the involvement of many international-renowned designers and architects), it assured me that the event would be more international than local and of a certain standard.

And then I was in for some surprises, both good and bad…

 

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The interior of the Shanghai exhibition centre

 

My first surprise came when I arrived at the venue, which turned out to be conveniently located close to where I was staying (which was not planned) near the Former French Concession area. I was quite stunned when I saw this massive Soviet-style building/ complex, it was only later that I found out about its history. It was built in 1955 as the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building to commemorate the alliance between China and the Soviet Union, and was once the tallest building in Shanghai.

My second surprise came when I was inside the building, not only everything is opulent, but each room is completely different in style (slightly schizophrenic), while showcasing incredible architectural craftsmanship (very Soviet). I could not help but be amazed by the detail of the ceilings, columns and lighting etc, and was completely distracted from the exhibitors…

 

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Top left & right: Design talks by Sharon Leece, Editor at large, AD China, British/Hong Kong designer, Michael Young and Rossana Hu from Neri & Hu

 

My third surprise came when I started to wander around the exhibition halls, all the brands seemed surprisingly familiar… it turned out that probably 60% (my rough estimate) of the designers/ brands exhibiting were British, and the rest was split between other international brands like Alessi or Flos and local Chinese ones. Judging from the name of the show, I expected to see more Chinese brands, but this was not the case. I later spoke to a British lady was one of the organisers, and was told that the show aimed to introduce high-end British designer brands to the Chinese market. And due to the craftsmanship involved, the designs could not be easily copied either. She later laughed and said that if I was there to look for Chinese designs, then I was at the wrong show. Oops.

 

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Top left & main: Ceramics at X+Q; Top right: Shanghai skyscrapper candles by Naihan Li; Bottom middle: a & a; Bottom right: Pearl Lam gallery

 

I guess it wasn’t completely at a loss, as I did find the design seminars quite informative and interesting esp. the talk on Chinese design trends by Sharon Leece, the Editor at large of AD China. She spoke of the retail and interior trends in China and the new creative/ design hubs in cities like Chengdu, Dali and Guangzhou, which I did not know before the show. I also attended another seminar by Hong Kong based British designer, Michael Young and Rosanna Hu from Neri & Hu talking about their recent projects in China.

 

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 Ceramic work at Kaolin

 

The show featured mostly high-end and craft-based designs, and one of my favourite Chinese brands there was Kaolin. Kaolin is a creative studio, founded by a ceramic artist, a designer and a media expert in 2012, which aims to promote young domestic ceramic talents to a wider international audience. The ceramic designs are quite minimalistic but beautifully crafted, using traditional techniques and heritage but in a contemporary way.

 

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Top left: Pusu Lifetstyle; 2nd row left and bottom left: Neri & Hu; 2nd row middle & right: Zizaoshe; Bottom right: a bamboo forest installation

 

Neri & Hu is one of the most well-known and respected architectural design practice working in China today. The practice not only work on architectural projects, but they also design and produce furniture, lighting and tableware; and founded the high-end furniture and lifestyle store, Design Republic, one the first to introduce international designer products and furniture to China.

Neri & Hu products are hand made and often inspired by traditional and everyday objects found on the streets of Shanghai. Heritage, craftsmanship and materials are important elements in their designs (see above), and it is no surprise that their designs are one of the best representatives in the contemporary Chinese design world today.

 

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Crowds outside and inside of the exhibition centre in the weekends, and exhibitors had to use tapes to keep the crowds away

 

Finally, my last surprise took place when I tried to return to the show for a talk on Saturday. If I hadn’t got my badge on the first day (even then, I had to queue for 15 minutes), I probably would have ended up queuing all day long to get in! The massive queue outside went around the block, and it was almost impossible to walk towards the seminar room ( which happened to be situated at the end of one wing). The crowds were pushing, shoving and snapping away regardless of other people around them. When I was trying to push my way out of the building via the narrow passage lined with exhibition booths, all the booths had tapes in front of them to keep the crowds away. It was something that I have never seen before at any trade or design shows!

The problem with the show was not to do with the quality of the designs or exhibitors, but the fact that the organisers did not separate the trade or press people from the public. Usually the trade or press people would get access to the show or event a day or two before the public, it seemed rather odd to use a ‘free and open to all’ tactic because the show was completely chaotic and out of control in the weekend. This arrangement also made it difficult for trade people to enquire information from the designers or companies (even on the first day). Meanwhile, I also received rude treatment by one of Chinese exhibitors when I tried to pick up a business card, probably because he thought I was just a random person from the public. This was really the last thing I expected from exhibitors who were there to ‘sell’ their work. And from what I saw, the majority of public there were not really interested in design, all they cared about was a free event where they could hang out, snap away in order to share on Weibo and seek freebies.

This is China after all, applying the British/international standard would not work here. Perhaps the organisers need more research into the behavioural patterns of the local Chinese before attempting to sell design to the Chinese market. I hope they will learn from this lesson and avoid the mishaps next year.

 

Hong Kong’s Business of Design Week 2013

business of design week 2013

 

Of all the cities in Asia, I find Hong Kong and Singapore to be the best representations of the term ‘East meets West’, this is partly due to their historical backgrounds and links to the British. Even though in recent years, the world’s focus has turned to Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore still enjoy the advantage of being ‘freer’, more matured and global than other cities. Now the two cities are trying to find their competitive edge in order to compete with the upcoming Chinese cities.

In recent years, design has become more important and recognised in Hong Kong, especially with government initiatives such as CreatHK which supports and funds businesses and organisations in the creative and design industry. The annual Business of Design Week in December (organised by Hong Kong Design Centre since 2002) is one of the key events on Asia’s design calendar. The week-long event will comprise the BODW Forum (for global design trends), concurrent events (covering brands, design, technology, city and the culture, design management and education, business of intellectual property etc.), exhibitions (for the public and trades) and the Detour community programme, aiming to inspire the participants about the power of design in building a better tomorrow.

Every year, the BODW parnters with another country, and Belgium is this year’s focus. I have previously attended BODW 2009 and BODW 2010 and the partner countries were France and Japan, respectively. I found the talks and exhibitions in 2010 particularly useful because I was at the pre-startup stage and was glad to hear established Japanese designers speaking at the forum.

 

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Photos were taken from Detour 2010 at the former Victoria Prison in Central except for the bottom left which was taken at Detour 2009 at the former Police Married Quarters with a temporary bamboo scaffolding structure designed by a well-known local architect William Lim of CL3 Architects

 

Britain has participated in the forum every year since its launch in 2002 and was the partner country in 2006. UK industry professionals have been actively participating in BODW due to the unique position the forum offers to enter the Chinese and Asian market. And Asia’s rapidly growing cities and investments have given international and national architects an opportunity to engage in great project and constructions. Well-known UK architects such as Keith Griffiths, Andrew Grand and Thomas Heatherwick have all designed spectacular buildings in Asia. In the past years, Thomas Heatherwick, Ron Arad, Andrew Grant, and Spencer de Grey have also participated in the forum as speakers. This year, Deyan Sudjic, director of London’s Design Museum will be speaking at the forum.

 

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Main: The stunning Gardens by the Bay designed by Grant Associates and Gustafson Porter; Bottom left: Thomas Heatherwick’s redesign of Pacific Place, a popular shopping mall in Hong Kong; Bottom right: Thomas Heatherwick’s Learning Hub at Nanyang Technology University in Singapore

 

BODW is a forum that serves as a platform linking all forms of design, architecture and art by merging disciplines and exchanging ideas, projects, and concepts, as well as a gateway to China and Asia. As we all know, we are living in a more globalised world, and so collaborations between the East and the West is crucial in shaping our future. At the end of the day, we are all codependent of each other, and hopefully through design and dialogues between organisations, businesses and people, we can create a better and more harmonious world.

 

Business of Design Week 2013 will take place in Hong Kong from 2nd – 7th December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

 

TEDx Albertopolis

TEDx Albertopolis

TEDx at the Royal Albert Hall, the first TEDx event in London

 

A few years ago, I was rather hooked on TED and watched many videos on various topics by inspirational figures who wanted to share and spread their ideas to the world. Hence, when I found out about the franchise event, TEDx Albertopolis ( created in the spirit of TED’s mission and experience at the local level), the first in London, I was very excited and booked myself a ticket for the 5-hour event.

The event took place at the Royal Albert Hall and we were told that it was a sold-out event ( many were school students). The day was divided into three sessions: “Seeing things differently”, “Making things happen”, and “Shaking things up”. The speakers include Julia Lohmann, ( an artist in residence at the V & A whom I mentioned in my previous entry), Nicolas McCarthy ( the one-handed pianist), Sally Davies ( Chief Medical Officer for England), Roland Lamb ( the creator of Seaboard GRAND) and many more.

As expected, some talks were more inspiring than others, and personally ( and I believe for many others), it was the co-founder of Touretteshero, Jessica Thom‘s talk on Tourette’s Syndrome that was truly unforgettable.

The problem with these huge events is that there are bound to be long queues for everything, and this was the case here from toilets, cafes to even the top gallery… And after sitting for so many hours, my back also started to complain, so as much as I enjoyed the event ( where I also befriended the Irish lady next to me), I would probably watch the videos in a more comfortable setting next time… which is my home sweet home.

 

 

London design festival 2013 (final part)

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Endless stairs at Tate Modern, designed by dRMM Architects, in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)

 

Like I mentioned previously, there were no major landmark projects at the V & A museum this year, but there is the Endless stair installation at the Tate Modern ( open until 10th October), which is designed by dRMM Architects and sponsored by American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC). The scale of 187-stair installation is slightly smaller than I expected, but I managed to spend a few minutes enjoying the view of the river and St Paul’s Cathedral at the viewing deck after a short queue up the stairs.

 

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Korean artist, Myung Nam An’s work at Squint in the Brompton design district

 

With so many events taking place during the festival, it was impossible to visit all the events across town, so I picked a few in the Brompton design district and Shoreditch design triangle.

In the Brompton design district, I was quite taken aback when I stepped into Squint, an independent design company which produces and retails bespoke, hand-crafted furniture and home accessories. The 2 floors of the gallery/ shop has been transformed into a colourful, eccentric and textural space full of velvet-covered furniture, vintage fabric lamps and organic-shaped ceramics. All the works were created by the London-based Korean ceramic artist and designer-maker, Myung Nam An, and they can be bought online and in store at Squint.

At Mint next door, “Cabinet of Curiosity” ( until 30th Sept) exhibits a range of furniture that focuses on the identity of objects through the examination of craftsmanship and design process. The collection includes a collaboration with Swedish Design Institute Svensk Form and the Czech Republic based gallery Krehky, and other new talents from around the globe.

Over in Shoreditch, London-based design studio, DesignMarketo created a multi-sensorial exhibition, “Perfume, Sir” exploring the different effects of pepper and scents, accompanied by ice Sculpting and cocktail making workshops.

 

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Top left: Roughed out soldiers by Peter Marigold at Blanks in between; Top right: Protest plates by Pentagram at 1882 Ltd.; Main: Perfume, sir? exhibition by DesignMarketo; Middle 3 pictures: Cabinet of Curiosity by Krehky gallery and Svensk Form at Mint; Bottom left: A talk by Alice Rawsthorn with ICA Executive Director Gregor Muir; Bottom right: aftermath of the festival…

 

Being rather unwell all week, I didn’t attend the talks that I originally intended to attend, but I did manage to attend a talk by leading design critic, Alice Rawsthorn at the ICA. Although this talk was not part of the London design festival ( which meant that the attendees were less than usual), it was very design-relevant. I have attended Alice’s talks before and I have always enjoyed her wit, passion and insights on design. The talk concentrated around some of the topics discussed in her new book, “Hello World: Where Design Meets Life” ( which I have yet to read). One of the topics that mentioned is the need for more socially-responsible designs esp in the technology world, which I also feel very strongly about. The fact is that we can no longer ignore the electronic waste clogging up all the landfill sites around the world ( esp. those dumped in the third-world countries by first-world countries). This is the responsibility of designers, manufacturers and consumers. Good design has the power to enhance our lives, but at the same time, bad design can also ruin our lives, so changes must be addressed before it is too late.

 

London design festival 2013 (V & A)

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Top left and middle: The Wind Portal by Najia El Zein; Main: Oki Naganode by Julia Lohmann

 

The V & A museum has always been the hub of the annual London design festival, and for 10 days every year, the museum becomes a backdrop for the hottest designers to showcase their talents. After attending the event for many years, initially I felt slightly disappointed and underwhelmed by the installations at the museum this year. Perhaps I had been spoilt, because I still have vivid memories of last year’s Mimicry Chairs installation by Japanese design studio Nendo and the structural and digital installation, Prism by Keiichi Matsuda & Associates or even Ronan & Erwan Bourouullec‘s Textile fields in 2011.

 

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Top left: 28.280 by Omar Arbel for Bocci; Top middle: The dinner party/ True-to-life design by Scholten & Baijings; Top right: FAT & Amorim’s CorkTECH floor; Main: Garden of Russolo by Yuri Suzuki

 

However, I later noticed that the range of work is probably more varied this year, from lighting to sculpture, flooring, sound installation and even typography. My favourite is ‘Oki Naganode’, an installation by Julia Lohmann ( the current V & A design resident) made from naga kombu, a type of Japanese seaweed. Her studio there is also fascinating, especially because her research and work overlaps art, design, science, and craft, and it is inspired by nature.

 

moleskinemoleskinemoleskinecircle OCIRCLE 0type tastingCIRCLE O

Top left, right & middle left: Moleskine sketch relay; Middle, middle right & bottom right: The typographic circle’s Circular magazine; Bottom left: Type tasting

 

Yesterday, I attended a talk by Alberto Alessi on his company’s design history and his experiences collaborating with the world’s leading designers and architects ( his list even includes Salvador Dali). It was an inspiring talk because he is direct, humourous and passionate; over the years, I have attended many talks by leading designers, architects or successful business entrepreneurs and I realised that their common trait is their passion in what they do/ strive to do. Money is never the drive, only passion and persistence drives them to succeed. This, I believe is a motto to live by.

 

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Top left & right: Alessi Made in Crusinallo. The beauty and the mastery; Main: Alberto Alessi’s inspiring talk on his company’s history

 

To be continued…

Make, do & meet workshop

make, do & meet

 

We have been selling on Notonthehighstreet.com for almost one year now, and it has helped us to grow our U.K. market. And as Christmas is approaching, we are anticipating our busiest Christmas yet.

I have never attended their events or workshops before because they are usually sold out early. I registered on the waiting list for the Make, do & meet workhop and it was last week that I received an email informing me about an available place even though I had already forgotten about it!

The event took place at Drink, shop & Do ( I wonder if the name of the workshop was inspired by them? ) in Kings Cross, which also happens to be one of my favourite cafes in the area.

 

drink, shop & dodrink, shop & dodrink, shop & do

 

The workshop was an informal event which covered information on sales forecasting for Christmas, SEO tips, new opportunities with NOTHS, Q & A sessions, as well as the opportunity to meet with other local designers and business owners. Not surprisingly, 98% of the attendees were female, which shows the strong female entrepreneurship in the U.K. nowadays.

 

make, do & meet

 

One of the best part of the event was the endless supply of food and drinks, from breakfast to lunch and afternoon tea, it was a busy day for my mouth and stomach… However, as much as I love the venue, it was too small for the event, we were all crammed together uncomfortably for most of the day and had little room to eat or socialise. That was probably the only downside of the event.

On the whole, it was an informative and relaxed event that was more fun than the corporate-style workshops I have attended in the past. Though it was also a reminder that it is time to start preparing for the Christmas season! Only 16 weeks to go…

 

Hong Kong Houseware & Gifts Fairs

HK houseware fair HK gift fair

Houseware and gifts fairs at the Hong Kong Convention Centre

 

April was a busy month for trade fairs in Hong Kong, two large fairs: Houseware and textiles, Gifts and printing fairs all took place within two weeks. Apart from local design studios, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, there were also companies from around the world exhibiting at these fairs.

 

HK gift fair HK gift fair

Left: Taiwanese design booth at the Gift Fair; Right: Smart Gifts Design Awards 2013

 

At the Gift Fair, there was an area exhibiting the winners and finalists of the Hong Kong Smart Gifts Design Awards 2013. Overall, I think the standard is not outstanding because many items are too “designed” ( just my opinion) and out of all the work, my favourite is the eco pinhole camera designed by Kam Yat Hui from Skyhui Works & Creations, which is fun, nostalgic and unique.

 

HK gift fair365 everyday things

Left: Seminar at the Gift Fair; Right: Charming Everyday Things calendar

 

While I was at the Gift Fair, I also attended the free seminars on giftware trends and e-commerce marketing, given by Ms Yoko Kawashima from Future Design Lab. of Itochu Fashion System ( who is also an adjudicator of the Good Design Award in Japan) and Mr Kinsen Lee from Radica Systems. The seminars were informative and insightful, but I was particularly intrigued by Charming Everyday Things, a project initiated by Ms Kawashima that introduces 365 Japanese daily items in a calendar-style format. Aside from the calendar ( which I later found out is not for sale), the 365 items were also exhibited and sold in Paris and throughout Japan last year. I love the concept and I think it is a brilliant way to discover new items or even items that people take for granted sometimes.