deTour 2020 welcoming visitors to engage in interactive design festival both physically and virtually

HONG KONG, Nov. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PMQ is thrilled to present deTour, the leading annual design festival in Hong Kong sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. From today to 6 December 2020, deTour 2020 will stage a physical exhibition at PMQ, Central alongside a virtual festival and a series of events, including a robust series of talks and workshops, all open for free admission and participation.

Themed Matter of Life, this year's deTour design festival is curated by the Hong Kong-based Trilingua Design Studio. It invites communities all over the world to come together in what has been a challenging and uncertain year. Furthermore, the festival questions the role of design in our everyday lives especially when our daily routines are being disrupted, prompting contemplation of re-evaluation.

This year, deTour has commissioned the internationally acclaimed design unit Whatever Inc. (based in Tokyo, Taipei, New York, and Berlin) to create a large-scale, interactive and inspiring installation FLOCK, for both physical and virtual festivals. FLOCK invites visitors to create an avatar of themselves in the photo scanning booth at PMQ or to upload their pictures via phone or computer, and the images will then be transmitted to and displayed on a giant digital mural at PMQ. Like a flock of birds, the images of all these avatars and pictures will fly together in the virtual world commemorating the coming together of people under the pandemic.

In addition, the Feature Exhibition of this year's festival showcases the works on solution design presented by four leading local and international design units, with a special focus on themes addressing the pandemic, the global news cycle and sustainability. These four design units and their exhibits are Brief Encounters by New Office Works (Hong Kong), Identity Face Shield by NOSIGNER (Japan), How the World Sees by Synoptic Office (New York, Hong Kong), and I'mperfect Lives: A Taste of Decay by CoLAB (Hong Kong).

Celebrating the vibrant local design scene in Hong Kong, this year's Selected Entries highlight ten exceptional works by designers in the territory chosen from over 90 creative proposals received from an Open Call. The exhibiting designers are Riyo Chan and Obie Chan; aona & Cou Tou Wood Working; Common Ground Design; Arnold Wong, Keith Chan and Stephen Ip; XPLOR; WARE; Cho Ching Chuen; Orient Occident Atelier; WHITEGROUND; and h0nh1m (Chris Cheung).

Trilingua Design Studio said that, "Through the festival theme 'Matter of Life', we want to re-evaluate the question 'What is design?'. To many, design can be seen as something extraordinary, but they don't necessarily see that design is everywhere in our daily lives and how it can be a solution to our everyday needs as well. By clarifying what design is, we hope that we can show all the possibilities of what design can be, and what it means to different people. We look forward to welcoming visitors from all over the world both online and offline to experience the festival, to engage and interact with the exhibits, and to help us re-examine the importance of design."

Going beyond the traditional exhibition that passively "displays" works, for the first time ever, deTour launches an unparalleled virtual festival to coincide with the physical event held at PMQ, creating an imaginary experience for international and local audiences. The innovative design of the virtual festival allows visitors from all corners of the world to gather in a virtual world in the form of their own animated avatar, who can explore the festival or chat with other guests via an instant chatbox. The virtual festival can be accessed through deTour 2020's website.

During the 10-day festival, deTour will also host a robust program of free Workshops and Design Dialogues. The Creative Workshops will guide the participants to explore the application of design thinking and knowledge in daily life through exploration of materials, communication design, fashion design and food design. As for the Design Dialogues, they will be live streamed on the deTour 2020's website, featuring key voices from the world of design and culture, covering topics ranging from spatial design and heritage to photography. Among others, the highlighted talks include Design for Operation – Revitalising Heritage where architects and designers share their experiences in overcoming the challenges in delivering heritage conservation projects in Hong Kong; and Can Motion Graphics Be an Extension of 2D Poster? which discusses the role of motion graphics that is not confined to two dimensions and the language of visual communication.

Additionally, deTour 2020 will host two Design Dialogues in Japan: firstly with Masashi Kawamura from Whatever Inc. on Creating Something during the Pandemic on 1 December 2020; and secondly with Eisuke Tachikawa from NOSIGNER on PANDAID - Design Aid for Pandemic on 30 November. These two Design Dialogues are also live streamed on deTour 2020's website.

Shin Wong, Curator-at-large of this year's deTour Design Festival, commented, "We are excited to launch deTour 2020 today, both at PMQ and our new virtual festival on the project website. With the local and global communities coming together at our physical and online events, deTour aims to celebrate the emerging young design scene in Hong Kong as well as supporting renowned international designers. We look forward to welcoming visitors to engage with our interactive programming, hoping to provide fun activities, a touch of escapism and the opportunity to learn something new."

Furthermore, marking its second consecutive collaboration with deTour, Moleskine created a Special Edition Notebook, featuring the internationally-renowned creative studio Whatever Inc.'s FLOCK, for deTour 2020. Whatever Inc.'s creative design on Moleskine's signature legendary notebook brings the exciting blue-sky journey to life. Public may stay tuned to deTour's social media channels to get their own deTour 2020 Special Edition Notebook!

For further information about deTour 2020 design festival, please visit deTour's website: detour.hk/2020

For more details of and registration for Design Dialogues, please visit: https://www.ticketflap.com/detour-design-dialogues 

To register for deTour's Workshops, please visit: https://www.ticketflap.com/detour2020workshop

Press Kit
Biographies of participating design units, full programming, highlights press releases, videos, and images with captions for press use can be downloaded at the following link:
https://egnyte.suttoncomms.com/fl/PFA2BMb9DI

Opening Hours of deTour 2020's physical festival:
Friday, 27 November to Sunday, 6 December 2020, 11:00 - 20:00, Free admission

Virtual festival please visit: detour.hk/2020

To download installation images, please click here 

To download full press kit, please click here 

About deTour

Organized by PMQ and sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, deTour is an annual design festival in Hong Kong celebrating the works and ideas of local and overseas designers and creative talent. An event borne to connect the local and international design communities, deTour boosts a curated line-up of exhibitions, workshops, dialogues, debates, and networking events, invites both the public and design professionals to engage and experience design in various perspectives.

Devoted to supporting local design talent, deTour stands as an unparalleled collaborative design festival for local and overseas designers through enabling the realization of creative sparks to design solutions. At deTour, everyone is encouraged to witness and explore the unwavering role of design for a better tomorrow.

About PMQ

Located in the heart of Hong Kong's SoHo, PMQ is the landmark of creative industries in Asia's World City. PMQ has been revived into a creative hub since 2014, housing over 100 Hong Kong Designers, showcasing workshops and studios featuring lifestyle, fashion and accessories, architecture, gifts & premium, homeware and a wide range of other designer goods. Today, PMQ has become the creative platform in supporting up and coming creative talent as well as fostering a community of patrons and lovers of creativity, design and heritage. It is also the hottest venue in town for international arts and cultural events from Hong Kong and all around the world.

About Create Hong Kong

Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated agency set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) in June 2009. It is under the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and dedicated to spearheading the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia's creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community. CreateHK has been sponsoring PMQ to organize deTour and other projects to promote Hong Kong design.

Disclaimer: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) are those of the project organizers only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Create Hong Kong, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.

SOURCE deTour