Artist: TECHSTYLE Series 2.1

(Artist, Australia)

Nicole Barakat is an artist lives and works in Sydney, Australia. She works to unpick the borders of art and life, re-examining intersections between drawing and textiles, collaboration, live work and community-engagement. Her work embodies the love and patience that often characterises traditional textile practices. Nicole approaches making as a form of meditation, with intentions to transform the conditions of everyday life, conjuring new ways of thinking, feeling and envisioning reality.

Barakat’s practice includes extensive collaborative community-engagement. Within this practice, she sees respect and equality as the leading principles that drive the exchange of experience, knowledge and skills.

Her most recent project, Shadow Places (a collaborative project with community in Narrandera, New South Wales), was exhibited as part of Sydney Design Festival at the Powerhouse Museum in partnership with the Cad Factory and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Nicole has a passion for the potential of imagination and art to create social change.

(Founder, PET Lamp, Spain)

Álvaro Catalán de Ocón in 2004 starts up his own studio in Barcelona where he designs LA FLACA lamp, winner of the Design plus Award (Frankfurt) and DELTA Awards in Barcelona. After his travel to the Colombian Amazon in 2011, he founds PET Lamp. This is a project that mixes the reuse of PET plastic bottles with selected traditional weaving techniques from different corners of the world in order to create unique handmade lampshades. Currently he combines his work with different companies with the production of some of his designs. In 2016, he cstarted ACdO, his own design editor brand to produce and distribute his personal projects.

(Director, Business Development, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textile and Apparel, Hong Kong)

Experienced in textile and apparel manufacturing, sourcing and retailing. Prior to joining HKRITA, she was Division Merchandising Manager in Ralph Lauren, responsible for global sourcing, cost planning, merchandising, and material and product development. Before that, Chan worked with a number of global textile and apparel companies, responsible for global sourcing, merchandising, licensing, and research and development. Chan graduated with a Higher Diploma in Textile Technology from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and obtained a Master of Science degree in Textiles and Clothing Management from the University of Leeds.

(Textile Catalyst, Hong Kong)

Edith Cheung juggles her time between commercial and self-initiated projects as a textile catalyst. She takes interest in all textile-related matters, ancient and modern, East and West. After returning to Hong Kong from New York and Europe in the late 1980s, she started working as a costume designer in the film industry. At the 27th Golden Horse Award, Cheung was awarded the Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction for her work in Director Yim Ho’s “Red Dust”.

She worked with private collections, museums and academics on the study of Chinese textiles, with the items ultimately being used as a study archive for the public. From 2010-2015, she also wrote a bi-weekly column for Mingpao Weekly Magazine on textile-related matters. Currently, her services include consultation work for the Fashion Archive at Hong Kong Design Institute, China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile in Hong Kong and St. James Settlement Rehabilitation Services.

(Artist, Head of the Fashion Design Master’s programme at ArtEZ University of the Arts, Netherlands)

A Dutch-born artist and fashion designer based in New York and Arnhem. She is a graduate of the fashion department at ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Arnhem, along with five other graduates, among whom Viktor & Rolf, she showed as Le Cri Neerlandais, the first Dutch fashion designers to have a runway show in Paris. Gatzen produces and facilitates large collaborative projects using clothing as her main medium. Embracing fashion as a mode of human togetherness, the focus of both her artistic practice and her teaching is on the relational aspects of fashion, advancing cooperative models of production and exchange.

(Associate Professor, Lingnan University, Hong Kong)

Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University and co-founder of Mobile Co-learning, a local non-profit organisation aiming at facilitating co-learning outside formal schools in Hong Kong.

His main research interests are education and cultural studies, cultural economy, history of capitalism and markets, and alternative development. Having co-edited the 6 volumes of Cultural and Social Studies Translation Series (jointly published by Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, and Central Compilation & Translation Press, Beijing), he is also the author of Farewell Cynicism (Hong Kong Oxford University Press, 2009), and What Capitalism is Not (Hong Kong Oxford University Press, 2002 and Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2007).

(Professor, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)

Janis Jefferies is an artist, writer and curator. She is Professor of Visual Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London, also working with early career researchers and with developing practice research. She trained as a painter (Sheffield School of Art, Maidstone College of Art and Camberwell College of Arts and Crafts) and in woven construction (Poznan Academy of Fine Arts, Poland) under Magdalena Abakanowicz. Jefferies is a pioneer in the field of contemporary textiles within visual and material culture and has been widely exhibited and published. Her areas of expertise lie at the intersection of arts and technology (textiles, performance, sound, and publishing).

She was one of the founding editors of Textile; The Journal of Cloth and Culture and co-editor of the first Handbook of Textile Culture (with Diana Wood Conroy and Hazel Clarke) for Bloomsbury Academic, and a contributor to TEXTILE: Crafting Community in 2016.
Jefferies was co-curator of the first Hangzhou Triennial of Fibre Art in China in 2013 and an exhibitor in 2016.

(Designer, Germany)

Sylvie Krüger comes from a family with a long tradition of producing textiles. After having studied textile design in Germany and the Netherlands she established a multidisciplinary design studio engaged in projects ranging from textile product design and textile interior design to exhibition design. For two years she managed the home textile studio of her family’s automotive and upholstery fabric weaving mill. Since 2006 she has been working as a freelance designer specialising on the use of textiles within an architectural context to solve demands concerning space, acoustics, view, sun and light. She collaborates regularly with architects as well as working for both private and commercial clients.

In 2009 she published the book Textile Architecture (Jovis Verlag GmbH, 2009). Based on the book the exhibition Textile Architecture was shown in the State Textile and Industry Museum (tim) (Augsburg, 2013), where Krüger curated the exhibition and developed the exhibition design.

Besides her projects she gives several lectures and writes articles for textile and architecture journals.

(Associate Director, Policy for Sustainability Lab, Faculty of Social Sciences, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Winnie Law specialises in community engagement, sustainable development and environmental management. Law is Associate Director (Policy for Sustainability Lab) and Principal Lecturer of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong.

Besides teaching at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels, Law leads a team of researchers conducting policy research, consultancy studies and knowledge exchange projects on community revitalization, sustainability assessment, social impact assessment and public engagement for policies and infrastructure projects, as well as capacity building and training for environmental conservation.

She has been director of the Conservancy Association since 2005. Law sits on a number of HKSAR Government’s advisory committees including Environmental Campaign Committee. At the regional level, Law was commissioned by the EU, UNDP and UEPP as a planning and social monitoring expert for their environmental enhancement and education programmes in Vietnam.

(Pangrok Sulap, Artist collective, Malaysia)

Rizo Leong is an artist who believes that a child is the father of the man. Born in Sabah as the third of eight siblings, he currently lives and works in Ranau, Malaysia. Leong is a self-taught artist known for delivering messages through wood block prints. Leong’s art mainly focuses on culture and traditions, the environment, and a touch of politics. His work displays a message uniquely and mostly reflecting social issues.

He is actively involved in volunteering and social activism. He collaborates with several local NGOs to creating awareness through art. He uses an artistic approach to express the voices of rural citizens. Leong is co-founder of Pangrok Sulap, the art collective with a group of artists, musicians and social activists with the purpose of empowering rural communities through art with the DIY concept.

(Curator, Learning and Community, Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile, Hong Kong)

Curator of Learning and Community of Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile as well as a multidisciplinary artist based in Hong Kong. He graduated from Middlesex University (BA in Illustration) in 2004, Rmit University (BA in Fine Arts) in 2008 and Lingnan University (Master in Cultural Studies) in 2014. For the last few years, he has been actively involved in community art and community empowerment. Before joining Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile, he was curator of the Hong Kong House of Stories since 2012, which strives to arouse public concern on the conservation of local culture. Lo also initiated several community groups like “Wan Chai Kai Fong Chateau”, “People’s Pitch” and “Ching Chun Warehouse”.

Lo values the most in community art – to encourage public re-imagining their rights to utilise public spaces in the city. The ultimate goal is to build a sense of recognition and belonging to Hong Kong local community, and to encourage people to be creative in daily life through different platforms.

(Director, Bluecoat, UK)

Marie-Anne McQuay is Head of Programme at Bluecoat, Liverpool (2014-), UK’s oldest contemporary arts centre where she curates across visual art, literature, music and performance programmes. She is currently Arts Advisor for the Granby Four Streets Winter Garden which will see Liverpool based artist Nina Edge work with local people, horticultural experts, and architects and Turner Prize winners Assemble to transform an empty plot in the Granby neighbourhood into a unique indoor garden.

Previously McQuay was curator at Spike Island, Bristol (2007-2013) working with artists Elizabeth Price, Laure Prouvost, Can Altay, Sonia Boyce, Cevdet Erek, Uriel Orlow and Jesse Jones. Before studying MFA Curating at Goldsmiths College, University of London (2005-6), she worked at FACT, Liverpool (2001-5) as part of the Collaboration Programme working on context based commissions with communities and artists including Stephen Willats, Jeanne Van Heeswijk, Dias & Riedweg and Superflex/tenantspin.

(Partner, Inside Outside, Netherlands)

Aura Luz Melis is educated as an architect at the Technical University of Delft and The Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism in Sao Paulo. She joined Inside Outside in 2005 where her interdisciplinary approach was formed through the wide range of projects she has worked on, many of which connect architecture to interior design and landscape. These projects include the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Rothschild Bank in London, the gardens for Qatar Education City Headquarters and the National Library in Doha. It also included the interior of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre and the landscape master plan competition for the West Kowloon Cultural District (with OMA), for which Aura worked at OMA’s office in Hong Kong for one year.

Since September 2016 she became a partner of Petra Blaisse leading among others an architecture project in Berlin as well as designing art implementations inside a New Generation of Dutch Railways trains.
Since September 2016 she became a partner of Petra Blaisse leading among others an architecture project in Berlin as well as designing art implementations inside a New Generation of Dutch Railways trains.

(Co-Artistic Director, ZeroStation, Vietnam)

Visual artist, independent curator, art critic and poet. His art practices concern about the relationship between present and past, and the intervention of different temporal-spatial dimensions. His works have been shown internationally in Japan, France, and USA. Nhu Huy has been writing, translating and publishing domestically and internationally on Vietnam contemporary art, culture, and art theory, and has been guest speaker for numerous international conferences.

Huy is the founder and artistic director of ZeroStation, Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam. In general, this is a project-based space with residency program for international artists and showcases local and international projects. The main concept of ZeroStation is to develop the kind of contemporary art in Vietnam that is more engaging than spectacle, more critical than exotic. The main mission of ZeroStation is to create more opportunities for dialoguing, thinking, and working among local and international artists on social and cultural issues.

(Artist, Japan)

Nishio Yoshinari lives and works in Nara. After obtaining a Ph. D. in Fine Arts from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2011, Nishio stayed in Nairobi, Kenya for two years as a grantee of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs. He currently works as Junior Associate Professor at Nara Prefectural University. His works have consistently referred to relationships between fashion and communication, as he has developed art projects with the cooperation of citizens and students around the world.

His group exhibitions include Socially Engaged Art (3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, 2017), Aichi Triennale (Aichi, Japan, 2016), In Progress (Zendai Contemporary Art Space, Shanghai, China, 2015), Invisible Energy (ST PAUL St Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand, 2015), You reach out – right now – for something: Questioning the Concept of Fashion (Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, Japan, 2014), Biennale Benin (Cotonou, Benin, 2012), Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (Niigata, Japan, 2009) and Media City Seoul (Seoul Museum of Art, Korea, 2006).

(Director, Hong Gah Museum, Taiwan)

Frankie Su is based in Taipei, Taiwan. She received a MA degree with distinction from Department of History of Art, University of Essex. Su worked as assistant curator in Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei between 2003 to 2006, then she moved to Beijing to join the initiative team of setting up Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art located in 798 Art District in Beijing. Su is now Director of Hong-Gah Museum, a privately-funded contemporary art museum located in Taipei, and is one of the executive board members of Taipei Contemporary Art Centre.

She received a grant from Contemporary Art Foundation for a curatorial research trip in Europe in 2009 and a fellowship grant from The National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF) to work with Independent Curators International to enhance the exchange and dialogue with Asian artists and curators.

Takahashi Mizuki

Takahashi Mizuki is the current Executive Director and Chief Curator of Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile. She completed MA History of Art from both Waseda University, Tokyo and The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

After serving as a founding curatorial member at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo from 1999-2003, Takahashi worked as senior curator at Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito and realised numerous transdisciplinary exhibitions addressing various artistic forms including manga, film, fashion, architecture, performance and contemporary art.

Takahashi was a research fellow at Central Saint Martins, The University of the Arts London from 2015 to 2016. She curates, writes and gives lectures extensively in Asia and Europe.

(Co-Director, Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile, Hong Kong)

Teoh Chin Chin is Co-Director of Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile. Before joining CHAT as Head of Development, Teoh earned her MA History of Art (Distinction) with a focus on East Asian art history from The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, after a successful career in private equity and investment banking. Prior to joining the arts field, she was Head of Asia for Greenpark Capital, and was Co-Head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Asia Private Equity’s team, where she managed a pan-Asian investment portfolio of private equity assets.

She founded the Chin Chin and Garrison Qian Fellowship Fund with MIT for providing annual financial support for graduate students from Asia, especially those in the arts, educational and cultural NGOs, for their pursuit of a business education at her alma-mater – MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she also earned her MBA degree.

(Director CEO, Textielmuseum, Netherlands)

Errol van de Werdt, Director CEO, Textielmuseum, Netherlands, was educated in different cities in the Netherlands-leiden, Amsterdam, Groningen and Zwolle. He received a bachelor degree in Museology from the Reinwardt Academy in leiden and a master degree in Art History and Archeology in Amsterdam. In 2000 Errol became director of collections and research in Utrecht Centraal Museum. Recently he started as General Director of the TextielMuseum and TextileLab and is now General Director (CEO) of the Mommers Heritage Foundation which includes, beside the TextielMuseum and TextielLab, the regional archives, the Local History Museum, and Vincent Drawing School. The TextielMuseum includes a research Laboratory and an international Textiles Trainee program to give talented students from all over the world the opportunity to do research, study and develop textiles prototypes or autonomous works. At the TextielMuseum research, study and exhibitions place much emphasis on crossovers between the different disciplines such as design, art, fashion and architecture.