February 8 – April 13 2008
The Chinese New Year will ring in with the opening of a new exhibit at the Design Exchange. This exhibition will provide a foundation for understanding design in the greater China region and the role it plays in everyday life.
Visitors will be introduced to an extensive graphic history along with numerous artifacts from the contemporary era in the context of everyday life. A marriage of the millennia-old Chinese cultural heritage and the most current Western and international trends will be examined through a display of contemporary design objects, traditional household items like package design and dinnerware, Mahjong table, fashion and the latest in lap-top computers.
Sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, the official representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the opening night of the exhibition will feature the “Hong Kong: Gateway to China” – a selection of designs and products taken from the “Project 9707”, a design project to celebrate and augment the achievements and talents of Hong Kong design launched recently by the Hong Kong Design Centre to promote Hong Kong’s creativity industry.
Curator Professor Wendy Siuyi Wong, is Chair of the Department of Design and the Associate Director of the York Centre for Asian Research, York University. Dr. Wong has built on her previous exhibition, Chinese Graphic Design Towards the International Sphere, held at the Cooper Union School of Arts in New York and her extensive research on Chinese graphic design history, undertaken with the support of the SSHRC Standard Research Grant.
Supporters include Asian Heritage Month, Hong Kong Design Center and Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, York University, T&T Supermarket, Chinese Canadian Advertising, Marketing & Media Association (CCAMMA) and Four L Graphics.
Exhibit Opening February 8th at 6pm
Hong Kong: Gateway to China
Sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office
Curatorial Lecture - February 21st at 12pm
ABOUT THE DESIGN EXCHANGE:
The Design Exchange (DX) is Canada’s design museum, with a mission to engage and educate Canadians about the value of design. It recognizes Canadian design and innovation as key elements in the cultural and economic fabric of our lives. It achieves its mandate through delivering design programs that include exhibitions, competitions, lectures and publications. The DX is a registered charity.
The Design Exchange is located in the original historic Toronto Stock Exchange building at 234 Bay St., Toronto. Information is available by calling 416-216-2160 or visiting the DX web site at www.dx.org.
Hours:
Monday – Friday 9-5
Saturday – Sunday 12-5
Admission:
$5 Adults
$4 Seniors/Students
Members Free
Media Contact: Claudine Crangle, Director of Marketing, Sponsorship & Public Relations: claudine@dx.org, 416-216-2134
Images for this exhibit are available upon request.