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The Future of Design: The Fusion of East and West
Throughout the ages designs that have changed the face of the world have originated in Asia. From Shen Nong's first set of herbal medicines in 100 BC to the invention of paper by Cai Lun in 105AD, Chinese designers have been pointing the way forward and creating products that are practical, beautiful, innovative and life enhancing.
Modern Chinese people are, themselves, sometimes surprised to realise that contemporary agriculture, shipping, astronomical observatories, decimal mathematics, paper money, umbrellas, wheelbarrows, multi-stage rockets, brandy and whiskey, the game of chess, and much more, all originated from China. Early Chinese travellers took these discoveries around the globe; today the influence of China on the western world is no less marked.
The reverse is also true. Asian people who have made new homes in far flung countries around the world are embracing western culture and ideals. They are merging their traditional values and heritage with western ideas, to create modern day solutions for the crucial moral and spiritual questions facing humanity.
Today the fusion of east and west is nowhere more evident than in Hong Kong, Asia's gateway city. Due in part to its colonial heritage, Hong Kong has long been a melting pot for a broad variety of activities, making mutual understanding and interaction between its different cultures a normal part of everyday life.
As the modern day world continues to look for inspiration in ancient Chinese traditions, multicultural Hong Kong is the ideal forum for this year's World's Outstanding Chinese Designer award. The Award aims to reach out to Chinese designers across the globe, creating a pool of shared knowledge and experience based on common origins. The organiser's vision is that a ripple started in Hong Kong will form a tide reaching every corner of the world where Chinese people are designing. This process will help identify role models who can inspire young Chinese designers wherever they may be.
Judging Criteria
Criteria was based upon three levels: personal, social and industry :
Personal
The winner should be an established figure in his discipline with a high quality of work, service and notable achievements. He must also demonstrate his long-term efforts and total commitment in the design field.
Industry
The winner should contribute to the design industry either through academic exploration or in-the-field applications, educational involvement or research studies. The winner must have demonstrated his commitment to design training at a national or an international level.
Social
The winner's design should have a positive social impact on everyday living and environmental concerns. He must demonstrate a social consciousness and responsibility; be human-oriented and possess a positive mindset for creating designs that enhance the welfare of people and society.
Judging Panel
| Victor Lo | Chairman, Board of Directors,
Hong Kong Design Centre, Hong Kong (Chairman of the judging panel) |
| Julia Chiu | Executive Director, Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization, Japan |
| Philip Dodd | Co-founder, Made In China and Made In Asia, United Kingdom |
| John Heskett | Chair Professor, School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong |
| Kan Tai- Keung | Founder and Creative Director, Kan & Lau Design Consultants, Hong Kong |
| Anne Stenros | Design Director and Vice President of Design, KONE Corporation, Finland |
Winner of World's Outstanding Chinese Designer 2009
| Ma Ke Founder Wuyong Studio |
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Ma has received a number of significant awards in recognition of her talent and dedication to the fashion design industry. In 2006, she was named “Best International Chinese Fashion Designer of 2006” by Modern Weekly, and in the following year, named “Best Asian Fashion Designer” by ELLE Style Awards 2007 in Hong Kong. The introduction of WUYONG represented an important milestone for Ma Ke. In 2007, she was invited to attend Paris Fashion Week 2007 to present this new line of fashion. This collection also captured the attention of Golden Lion winner Jia Zhang-K, who directed a documentary featuring Ma and WUYONG, and it won Best Documentary Prize at the 64th Venice Film Festival. In 2008, Ma became the first Chinese designer invited to attend Paris Haute Couture Week ,during which she presented WUYONG to the French design community. WUYONG was then brought to London at the annual event “Fashion in Motion” curated by V&A Museum of London, and also at the “Design of the Year” exhibition by Design Museum in London. It was also nominated the 2007 Annual Design Award. Ma’s talent is also expressed beyond the fashion arena. In 2004, she curated the book “Point One” which won the “Most Beautiful Book of China 2006” and was nominated “Most Beautiful Book of the World 2007” in Leipzig, Germany. “Point One” was also presented at the “2005 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism & Architecture Exhibition”. Ma was named one of the laureates of the annual Prince Claus Awards in
the Netherlands in 2008, and invited to present on the ceremony in Amsterdam. |
| Organiser : | Hong Kong Design Centre |
| Co-organiser : | Commerce and Economic Development Bureau |
| Major Sponsor: | Create Hong Kong |