Design Vlaanderen and Flanders Investment & Trade have joined forces with Brussels Invest & Export, Wallonie-Bruxelles Architectures and Wallonie- Bruxelles Design/Mode to present an installation called Belgian Spirit.
Carl Destoop of Flanders Investment & Trade stresses the growing importance of Hong Kong: “Not only has China become the world’s factory, it is also becoming increasingly influential for its design, innovation and creation. Hong Kong quite literally is a gateway to China, and it certainly functions as its design hub.”
Presence at the most important design event in Hong Kong is therefore a must for a region like Flanders, which thrives largely on innovation and creativity. “China doesn’t have a culture of product development yet, so it’s a market with high potential for us,” says Destoop. “The development of the country as a design powerhouse will happen anyway, so it’s best to get involved.”
BoDW is the flagship annual event of the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), a non-profit organisation funded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to promote good design and establish Hong Kong as a centre of design excellence in Asia. The week long event beginning on 28 November is well known for successfully combining creativity with economic development. It consists of a trade fair geared towards industrial design, an international forum, the presentation of the HKDC Annual Awards and a number of exhibitions, workshops and design-centred activities.
Destoop describes BoDW as the perfect opportunity to put Flanders on the world map as a creative region, but he emphasises that their mission is not just about image. The exhibition will be linked to a commercial mission during which 10 Belgian designers will meet potential partners and clients in Hong Kong.
For each edition of BoDW, one European country is chosen to be a partner country and invited to provide roughly one-third of the speakers and participants. “It would mean a lot of good publicity and interesting opportunities,” says Destoop. This year – Belgium’s first at the event – the goal is to learn more about the event and the region so the partners can introduce Belgium as the partner country for the 2013 edition.
“This year, the initiative is being handled by the export organisations, but in future it should be include a wider variety of players,” says Destoop. “More organisations should get involved with this project to build lasting and valuable partnerships.
Belgian Spirit at the Hong Kong Business of Design week includes 30 designers, architects and fashion designers – a balance of disciplines and of Belgium’s regions. Three curators – journalist Marie Pok and architects Li Mei Tsien and Sébastien Cruyt – selected the participants via the institutional partners of the initiative.
“It was a challenge to present three domains that aren’t always easily linked,” explains Pok. “We couldn’t use traditional ways of showcasing their disparate work, so we asked every designer to make an original sketch or drawing for the event, and we printed those on very basic “Made in China’ T-shirts [pictured]. The T-shirts are meant to be a neutral medium to carry the message.”
Fifty copies of each T-shirt will be sold in an on-site shop – “a way for us to refer to the hugely important shopping culture of Hong Kong,” says Pok. “Visitors can also try on the T-shirts and take pictures of themselves, which will be broadcast live on screens in the Atomium – another nod to Chinese culture and a way to create a direct liaison between Hong Kong and Belgium.”
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