Public Program
14 October - 4 November 2017 | CHICAGO
Alongside Hong Kong’s best design creations, we have arranged a wide range of programs to offer visitors a complete experience of the exhibition. From design sharing to hands-on activities, visitors explored the creative ecologies of Hong Kong with our participating designers as their guide.
Activities included:
THE LINEAGE OF INSPIRATION: FROM TRADITION TO INNOVATION
The diversity of visual expression adds to the creative legacy indelibly woven into the city’s cultural mosaic and fills the community with enthusiasm for future. Confluence•20+ brings pioneering design talent from Hong Kong to share their philosophy and endeavors inspired by local traditions and heritage, as well as their creative visions across multiple latitudes and culture.
Speakers:
Freeman Lau, graphic designer with close connection to local aesthetics and social psyche.
Lo Kai Yin, jewelery designer/art historian whose contemporary creations endeavor to meld and reinterpret the cultural heritages of the East and West.
Julie Progin and Jesse Mc Lin, experimental ceramic artists whose projects follow a consistent conceptual path to capture, document and present a moment in time and place and explore such issues as the flaws of mass-production, the relationships between human and objects, nature and industry.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
A MULTI-SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF "HONG KONG STYLE" TEA CEREMONY
By Lee Chi Wing (Milk Design: Tea room concept) x Joe Chan (Art installation) x Plantation by Teakha (Tea)
In a 7m x 5m semi-open enclosure separated by a membrane, we are temporarily sheltered from the urban hustle in a makeshift tea room. The contemporary and functional tea bar at the center is surrounded by art installations and multi-sensory media. Participants can open their senses and savor the fulfilment and delight brought by tea culture. The tea room is specially designed to let participants experience and meditate on the Eastern culture and its interplay with modern life.
The 30-minute session takes visitors on a mesmerizing journey in tea culture. Not only will you learn the procedures to prepare tea, you will have the chance to taste 3 different teas - green tea, oolong, and black tea - and snacks to pair with the teas.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Sessions: 2:15pm, 3:15pm, 4:15pm, 5:15pm, 6:15pm
BAMBOO BUNDLING CRAFT WORKSHOP
By Freeman Lau x Lau Tin Ho
Bamboo bundling is one of the most common traditional crafts in Hong Kong. In this workshop, participants will take part in a hands-on art-making experience which is tactile, free and improvisational. You will use bamboo to create complex curves and structural forms. Students and art professionals in particular can explore the use of bamboo bundling as a model making skill and enrich their arsenal. In the first half, you will work in groups and learn to build basic forms like sphere, pyramid, cone and cloud gate. In the second half, you will come up with a higher goal collectively and make a bigger model.
Date: 14, 20 and 21 October 2017
Sessions: 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm
FRAGMENT(S): LIVE
By Julie Progin x Jesse Mc Lin
For the final edition of Confluence • 20+, Julie Progin and Jesse Mc Lin’s work will involve an interactive installation. They will transform part of the display into a live ceramic studio where they will be producing a unique edition of Fragment(s) – casting discarded molds brought directly from the factories of Jingdezhen, China.
Every Friday and Saturday over the duration of the show, visitors will be able to engage with the duo and explore together the making process, gain an understanding of the concept behind the work of building connections through time and space.
To close the loop of manufacturing process and pass on the concept to a new owner, visitors will also have the opportunity to acquire one of the numbered pieces in exchange of a donation and an agreement to perpetuate the story of the work.
Date: 14, 20, 21, 27, 28 October and 3, 4 November 2017
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
PLAY LAB TO EXPERIMENT WITH HOME SPACE
By Gary Chang
How small your home can be? Hong Kong architectural designer Gary Chang is known for his specific focus on the growing global phenomenon of compact domestic space as well as his flexible designs that transform interior spaces and architecture. His workshop constructs a play lab of your own exploration of a domestic space of 330 square feet.
A minimal set of essential furniture is ready for visitors to try experimenting with various possibilities in arranging a home within this compact living space. It is both a challenging exercise squeezing all basic elements into a workable and manageable ensemble while reflecting on one's own interpretation of lifestyle at the same time. Various scenarios composed during the workshop will be recorded from a fixed vantage point and shared on site and via social media.
Date: 14, 20 October 2017
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
THE GOLDEN RECORD: PRIVATE AND PUBLIC REFLECTIONS ON 116 IMAGES – COLLAGE PROJECT
By Elaine Young
The Golden Record is a collection of 116 images, music selections from different cultures, greetings in 55 languages and other audio materials, curated as a celebration of human diversity and ingenuity. As such, the Golden Record did not include images of war, poverty, disease, crime, ideology or religion. Funded by NASA in 1977, it was intended to be a ‘greeting from’ and ‘a story about’ human civilization on Earth for an extraterrestrial audience. Using black and white photocopies of the 116 images from the Golden Record, participants are invited to create individual or group collages commenting on these omitted problems of human civilization.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
CUTLERLUMEN – FIRE STARTER KIT WORKSHOP
By C.L. Lam
Until today, we have yet to find comparable alternatives to disposable cutlery sets. Besides using green materials for production, can we upcycle these cutlery sets to make them more sustainable?
Enter Cutlerlumen – the fire starter kit! Used wooden disposable cutlery sets (including fork, knife and spoon) would be collected. At the time of disposal, users can use a cutting apparatus to recycle the handles while disposing the functional parts. These recycled wooden handles would then be wrapped in a paper band. Embedded with a wick, they would be dipped into bee wax for few minutes, resulting in a natural fire starter.
Fire starter kits are commonly used in countries with high usage of wood stoves and/or fireplace. They are ideal for lighting charcoal briquettes – without the need for lighter fluid! This simple production process also makes it easy to be introduced as a community service.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
STYLE TO CELEBRATE CULTURAL DIVERSITY
By Sharon de Lyster
Fashion is our skin of choice. What we wear represent how we feel about ourselves.
Design studio Narrative Made works with handmade textiles, especially those that carry stories of cultural identities. Due to the lack of written format of their languages, a lot of ethnic groups have been, for generations, weaving motifs and telling stories of their ancestors into their costumes.
Sharon de Lyster, founder of Narrative Made, is running a cross-cultural fashion styling workshop in celebration of diversities. Come in your own chosen outfit, and pair with heritage costumes from an Asian culture – from Japanese Boro to Miao’s silver headwear! Experience a different civilization through modeling and a fashion shoot.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
More info about Confluence • 20+ exhibition
Activities included:
THE LINEAGE OF INSPIRATION: FROM TRADITION TO INNOVATION
The diversity of visual expression adds to the creative legacy indelibly woven into the city’s cultural mosaic and fills the community with enthusiasm for future. Confluence•20+ brings pioneering design talent from Hong Kong to share their philosophy and endeavors inspired by local traditions and heritage, as well as their creative visions across multiple latitudes and culture.
Speakers:
Freeman Lau, graphic designer with close connection to local aesthetics and social psyche.
Lo Kai Yin, jewelery designer/art historian whose contemporary creations endeavor to meld and reinterpret the cultural heritages of the East and West.
Julie Progin and Jesse Mc Lin, experimental ceramic artists whose projects follow a consistent conceptual path to capture, document and present a moment in time and place and explore such issues as the flaws of mass-production, the relationships between human and objects, nature and industry.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
A MULTI-SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF "HONG KONG STYLE" TEA CEREMONY
By Lee Chi Wing (Milk Design: Tea room concept) x Joe Chan (Art installation) x Plantation by Teakha (Tea)
In a 7m x 5m semi-open enclosure separated by a membrane, we are temporarily sheltered from the urban hustle in a makeshift tea room. The contemporary and functional tea bar at the center is surrounded by art installations and multi-sensory media. Participants can open their senses and savor the fulfilment and delight brought by tea culture. The tea room is specially designed to let participants experience and meditate on the Eastern culture and its interplay with modern life.
The 30-minute session takes visitors on a mesmerizing journey in tea culture. Not only will you learn the procedures to prepare tea, you will have the chance to taste 3 different teas - green tea, oolong, and black tea - and snacks to pair with the teas.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Sessions: 2:15pm, 3:15pm, 4:15pm, 5:15pm, 6:15pm
BAMBOO BUNDLING CRAFT WORKSHOP
By Freeman Lau x Lau Tin Ho
Bamboo bundling is one of the most common traditional crafts in Hong Kong. In this workshop, participants will take part in a hands-on art-making experience which is tactile, free and improvisational. You will use bamboo to create complex curves and structural forms. Students and art professionals in particular can explore the use of bamboo bundling as a model making skill and enrich their arsenal. In the first half, you will work in groups and learn to build basic forms like sphere, pyramid, cone and cloud gate. In the second half, you will come up with a higher goal collectively and make a bigger model.
Date: 14, 20 and 21 October 2017
Sessions: 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm
FRAGMENT(S): LIVE
By Julie Progin x Jesse Mc Lin
For the final edition of Confluence • 20+, Julie Progin and Jesse Mc Lin’s work will involve an interactive installation. They will transform part of the display into a live ceramic studio where they will be producing a unique edition of Fragment(s) – casting discarded molds brought directly from the factories of Jingdezhen, China.
Every Friday and Saturday over the duration of the show, visitors will be able to engage with the duo and explore together the making process, gain an understanding of the concept behind the work of building connections through time and space.
To close the loop of manufacturing process and pass on the concept to a new owner, visitors will also have the opportunity to acquire one of the numbered pieces in exchange of a donation and an agreement to perpetuate the story of the work.
Date: 14, 20, 21, 27, 28 October and 3, 4 November 2017
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
PLAY LAB TO EXPERIMENT WITH HOME SPACE
By Gary Chang
How small your home can be? Hong Kong architectural designer Gary Chang is known for his specific focus on the growing global phenomenon of compact domestic space as well as his flexible designs that transform interior spaces and architecture. His workshop constructs a play lab of your own exploration of a domestic space of 330 square feet.
A minimal set of essential furniture is ready for visitors to try experimenting with various possibilities in arranging a home within this compact living space. It is both a challenging exercise squeezing all basic elements into a workable and manageable ensemble while reflecting on one's own interpretation of lifestyle at the same time. Various scenarios composed during the workshop will be recorded from a fixed vantage point and shared on site and via social media.
Date: 14, 20 October 2017
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
THE GOLDEN RECORD: PRIVATE AND PUBLIC REFLECTIONS ON 116 IMAGES – COLLAGE PROJECT
By Elaine Young
The Golden Record is a collection of 116 images, music selections from different cultures, greetings in 55 languages and other audio materials, curated as a celebration of human diversity and ingenuity. As such, the Golden Record did not include images of war, poverty, disease, crime, ideology or religion. Funded by NASA in 1977, it was intended to be a ‘greeting from’ and ‘a story about’ human civilization on Earth for an extraterrestrial audience. Using black and white photocopies of the 116 images from the Golden Record, participants are invited to create individual or group collages commenting on these omitted problems of human civilization.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
CUTLERLUMEN – FIRE STARTER KIT WORKSHOP
By C.L. Lam
Until today, we have yet to find comparable alternatives to disposable cutlery sets. Besides using green materials for production, can we upcycle these cutlery sets to make them more sustainable?
Enter Cutlerlumen – the fire starter kit! Used wooden disposable cutlery sets (including fork, knife and spoon) would be collected. At the time of disposal, users can use a cutting apparatus to recycle the handles while disposing the functional parts. These recycled wooden handles would then be wrapped in a paper band. Embedded with a wick, they would be dipped into bee wax for few minutes, resulting in a natural fire starter.
Fire starter kits are commonly used in countries with high usage of wood stoves and/or fireplace. They are ideal for lighting charcoal briquettes – without the need for lighter fluid! This simple production process also makes it easy to be introduced as a community service.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
STYLE TO CELEBRATE CULTURAL DIVERSITY
By Sharon de Lyster
Fashion is our skin of choice. What we wear represent how we feel about ourselves.
Design studio Narrative Made works with handmade textiles, especially those that carry stories of cultural identities. Due to the lack of written format of their languages, a lot of ethnic groups have been, for generations, weaving motifs and telling stories of their ancestors into their costumes.
Sharon de Lyster, founder of Narrative Made, is running a cross-cultural fashion styling workshop in celebration of diversities. Come in your own chosen outfit, and pair with heritage costumes from an Asian culture – from Japanese Boro to Miao’s silver headwear! Experience a different civilization through modeling and a fashion shoot.
Date: 14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Opening hours: 12:00noon-7:00pm
More info about Confluence • 20+ exhibition
