Workshops led by Island Studies Network

Workshop Session I

Date & Time: Saturday, May 10th 2025, 4:00 pm – 5:00pm

Venue: Design Trust Collaborative Space, 1F, Murray House, Stanley Plaza

As part of the Design Trust Futures Festival public programme, we are pleased to share the upcoming panel sharing workshop “Islands x Kaito” on Saturday, May 10th 2025, led by Dr. Leung Po-shan of Design Trust Feature Grant group recipient Island Studies Network (HK). The term “Kaito” denotes the “Kai-fong ferry,” often seen as the “vernacular ferry” by policymakers. The number of street ferries registered with the Transport Department has sharply decreased, from a peak of 126, in 1983 to only 14 today, due to road expansions, bridge constructions, and rural population migration. Dr. Leung Po-shan, lead researcher of Island Studies Network (HK), will share on how a new perspective on Hong Kong from the water can be gained from the research into the Kaito ferry network, and the network of islands and islanders that have been connected by this system. Design Trust Feature Grant recipient Island Studies Network (HK) ongoing research focuses on the fishermen groups and coastal communities in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, documenting cultural memory through the dragon boat tradition, while sustaining local maritime knowledge and skills to future generations, whilst archiving methods for water communities

Workshop Session II

Date & Time: Saturday, May 17th 2025

Detailes will be shared shortly.

“The Art of Transformation” explores spatial constructions and interactions of design and architecture to re-imagine, transform perspectives of city heritage and the culture of nature. Situated in Stanley called “Chek Chue” in Cantonese, a coastal town located on the peninsula of Hong Kong Island in the Southern District with beaches, historic piers, to the popular annual dragon boat festival, heritage monuments and the seaside culture of Hong Kong. This natural context, forms the beginning of a unique programmatic and research-driven learning programme to inspire and gather for community collaboration. DESIGN TRUST FUTURES FESTIVAL 2025: “THE ART OF TRANSFORMATION” collaborates with over 60 designers, artists, architects and curators, over a three-month programme at Murray House, Stanley Plaza where the 19th Century Victorian-era building, fronted by Blake Pier and Ma Hang Park, sets the stage for new perspectives on material ecologies, ocean connectivity that links the 263 islands of Hong Kong. Five key exhibitions and multiple public space installations, features lightweight interventions throughout the historic building to echo the Stanley waterfront, and its environs, as a space for dialogue to speculate on the future of spaces, urbanism and creative discovery.

By Marisa Yiu (Co-Founder, Lead Curator/ Executive Director of Design Trust)

March, 2025

DESIGN TRUST FUTURES FESTIVAL 2025: “The Art of Transformation” is a new micro festival where Design Trust researchers, scholars, global partners to innovative designers, participate in and share further their ongoing work, where small scale site specific commissioned works around themes of “Exceptional Transformations” of the historic site Murray House at Stanley Plaza, a 3-storey Victorian style building with architectural significance and its extraordinary heritage and natural context enlivens conversations on the public realm. Curated by Marisa Yiu (Co-Founder, Lead Curator/ Executive Director) with Zheng Zhou (Head of Programmes/ Associate Curator), this new initiative is conceptualized to shape, test ideas and speculate on the future of spaces, urbanism and the role of creativity, as we respond to global conversations around sustainability, placemaking, role of tourism to culture and heritage of Hong Kong within the Greater Bay Area, and international context, in positive and impactful ways.

Opening Date and Hours:

March 29th – June 18th 2025

Wednesday – Thursday: 2 – 6pm,

Friday: 2-9pm,

Saturday: 11am-9pm,

Sunday: 11am- 6pm.

Closed on Public Holidays unless announced for special programmes. Please refer to website for more details.

Check-in via Reception at Venue 1B (Design Trust Collaborative Space)

About Design Trust (designtrust.hk)

Design Trust was established in 2014 by Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design, a registered charity in Hong Kong since 2007, as a grant funding and community platform. Design Trust supports creative projects that develop expertise, build research initiatives and content related to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. Working across a multiplicity of design disciplines from graphics, media, architecture to the built environment, Design Trust aims to actively accelerate creative research, design and development of meaningful projects that advocate for the positive role of design.

Lead Organiser

Design Trust

Lead Venue Sponsor and Programme & Exhibition Co-sponsor

Link Asset Management Limited