Co-creator: Whatever Inc.
FLOCK to celebrate the joy of togetherness – wherever you are.
COVID-19 has completely changed our lives. The pandemic makes it hard for people to connect and meet like they used to, which is ironic as we are supposedly living in a “connected world”.
So, in this opportunity to create an art installation for deTour 2020, we want to create an experience that can somehow bring people back together, to celebrate the joy of being together again, in the form of an art piece.
With this in mind, we came up with an idea to create a digital art installation, where people from around the world can snap a photo of themselves, and join a gigantic flock of flying people.
For the installation work, we will build a photo booth where people can stand and take a full length photo. That image will flap its arms, and fly up to join the others on a huge digital screen hanging high up.
Since some people may not be able to attend deTour physically, because of the COVID situation, an online version of the artwork is being created on top of the installation at PMQ.
The online version works on a phone/PC web browser. People can access the website, take and upload photos with their smartphone, and see themselves joining thousands of other “flying people” in a virtual world.

Co-creator: Synoptic Office
Our ability to understand and navigate the challenges of this world depends on our ability to see and know what is happening around us. We find ourselves interconnected through instant communication that give us a window into the issues and ideas that concern different communities around the world.
How the World Sees maps the visual flow of real-time news stories from media outlets around the world in an immersive, living map. The project captures and visualizes headline news as images in different ways to reveal a dynamic and ever-changing global dialogue about who we are as human beings.

Co-creator: CoLAB
The pandemic has turned our life upside down. But it is also a good opportunity to rethink our existing way of life, which is largely shaped by the beliefs of standardization, efficiency, and convenience. The relentless pursuit of perfection in our urban lifestyle has resulted in over consumption, and the rejection of the “imperfect”. Sandor Katz, a self-proclaimed fermentation revivalist and author of The Art of Fermentation, once said: “our perfection lies in our imperfection”. Fermentation is more than a means to preserve excess food, it also provides essential nutrients we cannot obtain otherwise. Through the introduction of the rich history of food fermentation around the world, we envision ways to restore order, calling on the help of good bacteria—germs, our projected enemy, are in fact friends who have long fought by our side, and come to our aid in desperate times.
The curatorial story presents a breathing space to reflect on perceptions towards our relationship with food, diet, nature, cultural roots, and daily lives during this unprecedented time. The network of fermented food is displayed by a variety of visual representations. We take you on to a journey to the multi-dimensional web of herbage, livestock, and nourishment, to appreciate the perfectly imperfect landscape around us.

Co-creator: NOSIGNER
To protect healthcare workers from COVID-19, NOSIGNER designed this easy-to-make face shield as part of the nonprofit PANDAID project. Taking only three cuts in an A4 clear file, the free DIY template went viral on social media and has been adopted by medical institutions around the world. While the initial design protects our physical health, the Identity Face Shield project was launched in response to the rising need for personal identity protection.
The rise of facial recognition systems spurs concerns about privacy. By wearing the identity face shield, printed with a pixelated human face, we can protect ourselves from infectious viruses and keep people from knowing who we are. “Who owns our identities?” We hope this new design can lead up to more conversations about this question.

Co-creator: New Office Works
The way we engage with people will likely be completely altered after COVID-19. When designing for social interaction, the elimination of boundaries has always been the key intention; yet today we are increasingly surrounded by barriers. Rather than shutting down public spaces under social distancing protocols, what can we do so people can enjoy something as simple as sitting in a park next to a stranger?
Brief Encounters consists of two simple components: a steel frame and a transparent sheet. An accordion system is used to create partitions by moving frames around a central pivot point. Such a method allows flexibility in the spaces in between partitions, while also providing a compact solution for transportation and storage.
The use of coloured transparent film provides a sense of openness and transparency, even when people are enjoying individual pocket space. Each pocket space is physically separated. When transparent films of different colours overlap, a third colour is created which suggests interaction and connection between each space.

Co-creators: Arnold Wong, Keith Chan, Stephen Ip
The symptomatic deterioration of our urban spaces, largely as a result of privatization, tightened controls, proliferation of mobile devices and, more recently, social distancing measures brought on by global pandemic, has prompted us to reconsider the possibility of a more creative approach to building our environment.
We focus on glass, particularly the second life of glass after it has fulfilled its purpose as beverage bottles, containers or shopfront windows, as we recycle it into a whole new type of building material. Through previous research and experimentation, we have found that glass can be recycled and molten back into primitive granules, which then can be mixed with resin and made into recycled glass bricks that are semi-transparent and fairly durable.
For deTour 2020, we propose to use recycled glass bricks to create an installation that takes people on a journey through different types of social distances. It consists of urban spaces of varying scales, all contained in a spiral structure built with recycled glass bricks. Moreover, the semi-transparency and perforations between the stacked brickwork induce varied experiences and perspectives, as opposed to our regular urban spaces that are often impermeable.

Co-creators:Riyo Chan, Obie Chan
Many say that design is an art of problem-solving, and as humans, we face a lot of problems indeed—from our basic needs of sustanance, clothing, housing and transport, to our psychological and spiritual longings.
In 2020, the world has turned upside-down, and with that, some of our long-held beliefs were torn down, while new beliefs emerged from the crisis. Our changing psychological needs drive us to seek a different type of spiritual comfort. And to solve our new problems, a new kind of deity needs to be invented.
No matter what kind of believer you are, may the six new “Gods” in the God Catcher answer all your prayers. Insert a coin and choose the god to your liking, and you will receive a “prayer packet”, which includes a small statue of the god and a written blessing.

Co-creator: WHITEGROUND
Origin, obsession, epiphany and liberation––these are the stages that we all share in our lives. So how shall we live through this dream of a journey?
With a human perspective, the exhibition invites the public to ponder on the topic of “Life”, and takes us on a journey through its different phases—from origin and confusion to awakening and letting go—with the help of changing ambiences.
Visitors will need to use their body to feel the impermanence of themselves and their environment, so to understand that everything will cease to exist eventually, and that we should learn to appreciate every moment in life and simply cherish life.
Life is a fleeting journey, and so is design.

Co-creator: aona & Cou Tou Wood Working
Design is comparable to the process of evolution. Through the act of copying, revising, and modifying, the prototype undergoes a process of transformation and evolve into new designs. Starting from the 1960s-70s, Hong Kong carpenters and furniture-makers began to imitate modern furniture designs from the West. The results were not plagiarized copies of the originals, but adjusted and modified designs, suiting the needs and context of Hong Kong.
Through analyzing a discarded mid-century timber dining chair found in the street, and comparing it with modern Danish classics such as Finn Juhl’s Chair 108 and Hans Wegner’s Ch30, this project attempts to reconstruct the process of imitation and its role in design, with the research result published and exhibited. Using the design elements of the discarded chair, a new furniture piece will also be built, as a continuation of the mimication process and the exploration of its regeneration.

Co-creator: Wilf Cho
Pearl and Haystack is a single-channel HD video in colour and sound.
“To hide a pearl in a haystack”, a Cantonese proverb meaning something is far more valuable than it appears, or to describe a person hiding his asset in a mundane disguise, has somehow exemplified the nature of design.
What is design? Design conveys different meanings to each individual. This project explores the role of design through a series of interviews and dialogues, with various stakeholders in society. Focusing on diversity, interview subjects include butchers, fashion designers, arborists, art collectors, domestic helper, and interior designers. Through storytelling, portraying the interviewees’ day-to-day design experiences and using monologues, Cho probes the relationship between the media landscape and the minds of different social classes, in a hyper-capitalist society. The subjective audio and visual fragments create a non-linear narrative that is both postmodern and open-ended, demonstrating Cho’s subversive ideology of video art.

Co-creator: h0nh1m (Chris Cheung)
Early Homo sapiens cut down trees and burnt them to keep warm. Then wood becomes ash, as a record of energy, existence, and life. During human evolution, woods serve as sources of paper, which are then made into books, living their lives as records of knowledge and thoughts. In The Book of Ashes, books are burnt into ash, the same way how woods are burnt––primitive and pure. The wood gives heat and light in its ephemeral life, while a book’s transformative power can last a lifetime.
When participants perform the burning ceremony at The Book of Ashes, they put the paper into a book-shaped container equipped with heating wire. The book is lit up, its pages flicker like a white pigeon flutters its wings. The flame wavers in the vessel, the words on the page fall like a snowy feather, fuelling the collective work. The way the book paper caught fire and burnt, mimics the decay of paper books in a digital age. Nowadays, the process of intellectual exchange has gone digital. While some may appreciate the seemingly free-flow of knowledge and stories online, excused from the physical boundary of a book; some may mourn the vanishing of book.

Co-creator: WARE
Irreversibly ruined by climate change and warfares, forests no longer serve to absorb carbon emissions. Humans ought to wear gas masks to protect themselves from the toxic chemicals outdoors. Therefore, a new form of business has emerged—fresh air. Cafeterias do not only sell food and beverages, but also fresh air, sourced from the last remaining oases across the globe.
In this showroom of airbank ®, visitors are provided with experiences of inhalations from a fresh air pack, as well as an air-freshening plant.
airbank ® is a fictional showroom set in an apocalyptic world, where fresh and clean air is a luxury.

Co-creator: Orient Occident Atelier | OOA
This art installation draws from a traditional Hong Kong culture, in which fruit peels, vegetables and fish are laid on the street to sun dry for consumption.
The display of dried herbs, Chinese medicinal plants, decorative and edible plants forms a vertical gallery, saving space and improving hygiene by withdrawing from its more common habitat—the roadside or sidewalk. The selection of local plants serves to encourage people to utilize resources in their surroundings.
FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic), a cheap industrial material, is often used in food processing. Through rearranging FRP sheets in a picturesque way, we redefine both the industrial product and the sun-drying food to become an eco-industrial landscape. Theoretically, the dried plants are edible, shedding new light on the sun-drying culture and organic practice.
Orient Occident Atelier explores the potential of building, furniture, and local drying and farming culture, as well as a sustainable way to integrate greenery into contemporary living.

Co-creator: XPLOR
Memory defines who we are. Our existence lives in memories of our own and others. In Latin, memento mori is a common saying, meaning “remember that you have to die”—a symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. If life is impermanent and death destined, it is through art that we hold on to things that matter.
In MEMORI, we turn voice memos of blessings into visual images, like a digital “omamori” (Japanese amulet, symbolizing luck and protection). As a unique charm personalized to one’s wishes, it empowers participants to send out wishes in a perceptible way. While the generated visuals will be showcased on the online platform, the hidden voice message can only be accessed and decoded by the recipient.
Through MEMORI, we can remember and record what really matters. Users’ sound waves are traced, shaped, visualized, and sublimated into a new art form. As a transient, yet beautiful encounter with art, the emotional meanings of the message are intensified and unfolded in another medium, in a different form—it is a carrier of blessings for our beloved ones. In times of crisis, we invite you to experience art’s power as an agent of change, soothing anxiety and spreading love.

Co-creator: Common Ground Design
“When flowers no longer exist on the planet, will you cherish me?”
Matter, to us, is the carrier of emotions; the origin of collective memories.
This installation records a disappearing matter of life; a material, among others, that forms part of our collective memory—terrazzo. Terrazzo is commonly found in old tenement buildings, but is fast vanishing due to redevelopments and refurbishments, along with the retirement of specialist artisans.
A reproduction of the material in a new form, Interactive Terrazzo emanates the old community ambience in Central. Appearing in the form of seating, with optical fibre as an aggregate component, the fibres react with visitors and illuminate, through the help of customized programming. We envisage visitors will discover the characteristics and potentials of terrazzo, through close observation and personal experiences—touch, crawl, sit, or lay down, etc.

Host:
Peter Ferretto, Associate Professor and Director of the Masters of Architecture Programme at CUHK
Speaker:
Louise Browne, Principal of Grimshaw
Keith Chan, Interior Designer and Furniture Designer and Founder of Hintegro
Polly Ho, Fashion Designer, Founder of Loom Loop
Kevin Lam, Head of Brand Communications of Ronald Lu & Partners
Benny Lee, Architect and Design Director of BREADstudio
Jason Tang, Architect and Founder of NIL Studio

RIBA Talk!2020 examines design discourse under “Matter of Life”, by putting the minimalist motto “Less is more” and post-modernists’ belief “Less is a bore” into debate.

Host:
Angel Leung, Programs Manager of Videotage
Speaker:
Chris Cheung Hon Him, Founder of New Media Group XCEPT and XCEED
Chilai Howard, Founder of Design Studios N7 communication. / NNNNNNN.

Art is not only about showing artworks but creating an experience. In 2020, virtual art experiences are blooming due to social-distancing policies worldwide under COVID-19. Yet, physical art experiences, such as visiting exhibitions, going to museums, and interacting with installations, are still irreplaceable. Good spatial design for arts allows the viewers to temporarily forget the real world and experience art with their whole body. Hence, this dialogue will focus on the possibilities of spatial design as an art experience for audiences.
Two millennial media artist-designers from Hong Kong—Chilai Howard and Chris Cheung Hon Him—will discuss their experiences and insights in designing space for arts.

Host:
Yipei Lee, Taiwan-based Curator and Founder of SUAVEART

Speaker:
Ernest Chang, Hong Kong Artist
Karolina King, #STOPGAP2020 Exhibition Director
Agnieszka Mori, #STOPGAP2020 Exhibition Co-curator and Artist
Natalia Mota, #STOPGAP2020 Exhibition Co-curator
Mateusz Piestrak, Polish Painter

deTour 2020’s theme “Matter of life” was key for the #Stopgap2020 exhibition, and this online talk with curator Yipei Lee.
Yipei Lee has been curating a series of online talks and discussions focusing on empowering the art scene during the pandemic. This discussion will focus on sharing lockdown experiences, and its impact on the art community in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Topics like digitalization, the development of relationships between worlds, and how they use new language to leverage media power, will be addressed.
Artists from Poland and Hong Kong will discuss their own experiences during lockdown—its effect on creativity and how they sustained themselves in a confined physical space.
Last but not least, the #stopgap2020 exhibition curators will contribute to the discussion by sharing their own thoughts and reflections on the matter. The talk is the manifestation of “Matter of life”, which is even more relevant for all of us today.

Host: Philip Annetta, Editorial Director of Design Anthology

Speaker:
Christine Lew, Founders of Studio Florian and Christine
Otto Ng, Design Director of LAAB Architects

The year 2020 has shown that our current way of life is vulnerable to shocks over multiple areas, such as health, the environment and our political and economic systems. It has raised issues that will continue to have an impact on our very existence. As designers and design supporters, what can and should we be doing to design solutions to these issues?
Join architect Otto Ng of LAAB Architects and Christine Lew of multidisciplinary design firm Studio Florian and Christine, in conversation with Design Anthology managing editor Philip Annetta, for a wide-ranging discussion of how our future could look, with—and without—design.

Host:
Lau Ching Ping, Chair of the Hong Kong Photographic Culture Association

Speaker:
Chuk Yin Man, Image Maker
Sharon Lee Cheuk Wun, Image Maker

Newspaper stands on bustling streets, traffic signs and lamp posts in serene suburban areas…do we still remember these childhood scenes? Photographs capture the here and now, and become a medium for us to revisit, reimagine and reinterpret the space around us.
Satellite Exhibitions is a project conceived and inaugurated by the Hong Kong International Photo Festival in 2018. By placing exhibitions and activities in day-to-day environments and often overlooked spaces, the project aims to promote to the public the idea of art as an everyday experience, and exhibition as a means to deepen our understanding of the space we inhabit, to generate conversations between people of different ages and backgrounds, hence stepping out from the usual art circle.
Lau Ching-ping, Chair of the Hong Kong Photographic Culture Association, will talk about the inspiration and future development of the project. Two image makers who participated in Satellite Exhibitions 2020, will join the dialogue and share their exploration of different corners of the city.

Host:
Roger Wu, Chief Curator, 2019 Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture

Speaker:
Adonian Chan, Co-Curator of deTour 2020, Director and Co-Founder of Trilingua Design,
Stanley Siu, Curator of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition (Venice Biennale), Co-Chair of HKIA Biennale Steering Committee, Principal and Co-founder of Daydreamers Design

A number of design-oriented exhibitions of various scale, have established themselves in the design calendar of Hong Kong, particularly towards the end of the year. These exhibitions are instrumental in re-energizing Hong Kong’s design scene, and bring new perspectives to an unprecedented time.
Adonian Chan, co-founder of Trilingua Design and co-curator of deTour 2020, will be joined by Stanley Siu, co-chair of HKIA Biennale Steering Committee and a seasoned design exhibition contributor, in this Design Dialogue session, hosted by Roger Wu, Chief Curator of 2019 Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture.
Apart from sharing their experiences, particularly under the challenging circumstances in Hong Kong over the past months, more importantly, the speakers will envision how a more coordinated approach to curation can make events and exhibitions more relevant and impactful to a wider audience.

Host: Akiyo Takada, Founder of Ambassadors of Design Japan (AODJ)

Speaker: Masashi Kawamura, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Whatever Inc.

Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Whatever Inc., Masashi Kawamura will share how he faces life and the shifting reality of the pandemic, and how he continues to create works that echo the spirit of an unprecedented time, resulting in brand new works like FLOCK, Robot Viewing, Rakugaki AR, and WFH Jammies.

Host: Akiyo Takada, Founder of Ambassadors of Design Japan (AODJ)

Speaker: Eisuke Tachikawa, Founder of NOSIGNER

With various crises happening in Japan, Hong Kong and the rest of the world, including the pandemic and natural disasters, Tachikawa will talk about how we can nurture creativity, what social perspectives are required of design in a time of crises, and how to move society forward through design—all using his own projects as examples.

Host:
Agnieszka Mori, Artist, Curator and Co-founder of KLIP Art

Speaker:
Jackson Choi, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader of Visual Communication at Hong Kong Design Institute
Karolina Jacewicz, Animator and Graphic Designer
Mateusz Kokot, Professor of Kinetic Graphics Studio at the University of Arts in Poznan
Max Skorwider, Poster, Illustrator and Graphic Artist, Curator, University Professor at the University of Arts in Poznan

The development of new media has had a huge impact on the interpretation of visual language, enriching it with new dimensions—time and sound. A clear example is the boom of motion graphics in the past decade. Are motion graphics an extension of traditional forms of graphic communications, such as posters?
Illustrator, graphic artist, animator, and representatives from the academic community, from Poland and Hong Kong, will discuss the role of motion graphics—one that is not confined to two-dimensions. They will also raise questions on the language of visual communication in multimedia projects.

Host:
Eddy Hui, Design Educator and Designer

Speaker:
Kay Chan, Social Innovator
Paul Chan, Landscape Architect and Co-founder of Otherland Limited
Ron Leung, Founder of L.I.M. Design Works, Former HKDA Chairman

The relationship between designer and client can be more than service provider and benefactor—through co-creation, contributions from each party can bring the project forward. Three designers from distinct fields, will share their experiences in co-creation, exploring the possibilities and feasibility of co-creation in different disciplines.
Ron Leung, seasoned designer and former chairman of the Hong Kong Designers Association, will share his experiences in multi-disciplinary creation and practising co-creation in design and technology projects; landscape architect Paul Chan, will give insights into the latest trends in landscape architecture in promoting, and co-creating harmony; while Kay Chan, a social innovator who specializes in sustainable design, will share her experiences in co-creating win-win projects with clients.

Host:
Roger Wu, Executive Director, Project Development of Haw Par Music Foundation Limited

Speaker:
Him Lo, Senior Manager, Cultural and Community Engagement Department, Hong Kong Property Division, Nan Fung Development Ltd.
Winnie Yeung, Experienced Heritage Revitalisation Practitioner

In one of the Design Dialogues of deTour 2014, HKIA, RIBA HK Chapter and AIA HK Chapter, collaborated to bring together architects and designers to share their experiences in overcoming the challenges they faced in the delivery of heritage conservation projects in Hong Kong.
Six years on, Roger Wu will host a follow up Design Dialogue, with Winnie Yeung, an experienced heritage revitalization practitioner, and Him Lo, senior manager of Community Engagement Department at the Nan Fung Development —as speakers, sharing insights on the relationship of the design of hardware (the facilities/venues) and software (services/programme), to explore how these aspects can be better integrated from design conception to sustainable operation, for the benefit of the heritage asset and visitors.
The aim will be to encourage designers to be more sympathetic to, and connected with, the operational and programming aspects of heritage conservation, beyond the project conception as well as after the project completion; and for the program organizers and curators to be more involved in the design process from the early stages.

Host:
Charles Lai, Researcher in the history and conservation of Hong Kong and Asia modern architecture

Speaker:
Jacky Chan Yin Fung, Registered Architect at Ronald Lu & Partners
Dennis Cheung, Founder of Studio Ryte
Vivian Wong Wai Yin, Architect, RIBA

Contrary to common belief, tradition is a variable that is constantly shaped by contemporary cultural imaginations. As Eric Hobsbawm and his colleagues stressed in The Invention of Tradition, “tradition” was not a direct result of the “past” and “history”, but a cultural and social construct, produced collectively and continually by the community. In the discipline of design, tradition often influences the evolution of design and craft — under the disguise of “inspiration”, or provides an explicit or implicit framework for the syntax of the design.
Charles Lai, architect and researcher, will lead this conversation on tradition with three other emerging architects— Dennis Cheung, Jacky Chan and Vivian Wong. Founder of Studio Ryte, Cheung’s projects place strong focus on digital fabrication, material innovation and novel construction techniques. Chan and Wong’s recent work The Gate of Blessings, an entrance gateway design for the Lunar New Year Fair in Victoria Park, was awarded the Winner of the HKIA Idea Design Competition 2020.