Anne Zhang

zhangy49@gmail.com

THE first Shenzhen-Hong Kong Design Biennale will be held in Shenzhen from September to November, according to Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association.

Professionals from more than 40 design associations, companies and academies in Shenzhen and Hong Kong will gather to showcase their designs, exchange ideas and seek cooperation.

“It’s the largest event held between the two cities’ design industries,” Shirley Feng with the Shenzhen design association said.

The biennale features eight exhibitions and eight public events, which will be held across the city, including OCT Art and Design Gallery, OCT Bay and OCT-Loft in Nanshan District and Dalang Fashion Valley in Longhua New Area.

The exhibitions will include a display on visual communication in design, a space-themed installation, a new media and technology screening, a Shenzhen-Hong Kong crossover design exhibition and a showcase of creative products.

Hong Kong design is more cutting-edge and more internationalized, which Shenzhen designers can learn from, Feng said, adding that the Pearl River Delta area is China’s manufacturing base and has a big demand for design. It also allows Hong Kong designers to have close access to where products are made.

Freeman Lau, secretary general of Hong Kong Federation of Design Associations, said Shenzhen is a young city full of entrepreneurship. Many Shenzhen enterprises are trying to establish their brand names by using more creative designs, so there is a huge potential for cooperation between the two cities, Lau said. (Continued on P3)

He said Hong Kong government sponsored this year’s biennale, giving nearly $HK4 million. The government has invested another $HK5 million in studying the design industries of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, setting up an online platform that pools design resources of both cities, and sponsoring design forums, Lau said. Governments from the two cities have been cooperating on design officially since 2009.

Events at the biennal include a design forum, an interactive fashion show, an innovation tour, a DIY furniture workshop, a creative workshop, an enterprise paring meeting, and a “Petcha Kucha,” a presentation format where designers will show 20 images for 20 seconds each.

The biennale is co-organized by Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association and Hong Kong Federation of Design Associations and co-sponsored by Shenzhen Longhua New Area Government and Creative Hong Kong.