The Dream Factory of China

A series of exhibitions, an art fair and a forum focusing on the art and cultural cooperation in the Greater Bay Area kicked off on Dec.7 at the newly unveiled design and creation hub in Qianhai.

The annual Hong Kong-Shenzhen design spectacular — “Creative Initiatives 2019-Design Exponential,” which is sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, attracted the public and design practitioners from the two cities to attend at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong design and creation cluster Zetta Bridge, which opened Nov. 14.

The event features the NEXT BY D TWINCITIES (NEXXT) Exhibition, the “FLOW-Unfold-Shenzhen Edition” exhibition, a Design Playground market that brings a selection of creative stalls from Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland to visitors and the “From DTC to GBA Forum II-GBA Cultural Positioning and Development” forum.

The NEXT BY D TWINCITIES (NEXXT) Exhibition brings together design talents from Hong Kong and different cities on the Chinese mainland to co-create design products. New products such as the origami folding leather handbag collection, the mini origami bluetooth speakers and the Take 2 upcycling tote bags can be found.

“FLOW-Unfold-Shenzhen Edition” is a touring exhibition, following the Hong Kong and Macao editions, that features the works and projects of over 30 participating units.

At the forum held in the afternoon, leading figures in the creative fields and entrepreneurs, including Freeman Lau, secretary general of Hong Kong Federation of Design Associations (FHKDA), Han Wangxi, director of Shenzhen Innovation & Creative Design Development Office, Dou Kemin, representative of Zhuhai Design Week, and James Chu, director of the Macao Design Center, were invited as guest speakers to discuss the latest cultural and creative developments in the Greater Bay Area.

Tony Wong, chairman of Zetta Bridge, said the cluster and the event aim to encourage communication between the Hong Kong design industry and that of the mainland. It is expected to pave the way for Hong Kong designers, especially young designers, to better enter the mainland market.

Zetta Bridge covers an area of 140,000 square meters and now features 50 Hong Kong design startups and creative companies.