deTour 2016 ‘Game Changer’, the annual and concurrent event of BODW, Photo by Wasawat Dechapirom
DETOUR, THE ANNUAL AND CONCURRENT EVENT OF BODW, LOOKS THIS YEAR AT HOW CREATIVITY AND DESIGNS CAN COMPLETELY CHANGE THE WAY WE PERCEIVE AND ACT IN THE WORLD.
By bringing together local and international creative talents within the heart of Hong Kong, deTour gained wide recognition from the public at the time of its inauguration in 2008 as the first ever design festival to be held in the city. It has been almost a decade since then now, but this important concurrent event of the Business of Design Week (BODW) continues to consecutively draw attention from visitors by providing them with diversified activities such as installations from various artists and designers, exhibitions showcasing creative inventions, workshops for those who find themselves curious about the creative industry, and discussions organized in a very casual manner called ‘Design Dialogue.’
deTour 2016 ‘Game Changer’, the annual and concurrent event of BODW, Photo by Wasawat Dechapirom
The theme of the recent deTour 2016 held at PMQ was ‘Game Changer,’ which looked back upon the notion of creativity through different points of view as, said the organizer, “firstly, how creativity and designs can completely change the way we perceive and act in the world, and more importantly, whether and how we can change our perception of what design really is, and how it should be carried out.” This notion lead to the realization of more than 10 installations that were situated in the courtyard of PMQ ranging from ‘Elusive,’ a set of mechanical photo installations from Siu Wai Hang which denoted the relationship of nearness and distance caught from behind the fence of army barracks, to ‘For Architecture – Every Word Counts,’ a spatial installation from Hong Kong’s architectural think tank AaaM (Architecture as a Medium) that concretely used literature to construct a space. To be honest, what had to have been the most popular could be nothing but ‘Ping Bing Pong’ by Trilingua Design which played with the game of ping pong by redesigning its table into a circular self-revolving one that granted players the opportunity to compete against each other from all directions.
deTour 2016 ‘Game Changer’, the annual and concurrent event of BODW, Photo by Wasawat Dechapirom
Apart from the aforesaid installations, there was also a variety of exhibitions housed inside the two buildings of PMQ, for instance, ‘Old Begets New,’ an exhibition organized by SOIL that revisited regional materials like the bamboo mat and reinterpreted its possibilities of geometric transformation so as to ‘beget’ more innovative value onto this traditional wisdom. ‘Evolution of the Video Game Console’ organized by Restart Workshop was another capsule exhibition that explored the story of game consoles and their major impact on the industry. Observers could also enjoy playing with some old consoles that were given new life as those re-activated arcade games were a part of what the Restart Workshop is currently working on.
deTour 2016 ‘Game Changer’, the annual and concurrent event of BODW, Photo by Wasawat Dechapirom
deTour 2016 ‘Game Changer’, the annual and concurrent event of BODW, Photo by Wasawat Dechapirom
deTour 2016 was replete with so many more activities; however, it couldn’t be denied that covering all of them in a single post would definitely make you excited yet exhausted at the same time. As what deTour has been doing since 2008 is fulfilling an attempt “to create a captivating atmosphere and transformative experiences, to arouse public consciousness and to influence creative practices,” it is pretty exciting for us all to look forward and wait to see what will take place in the next years to come. So, in order to follow up on all other events and get more updates on this year’s deTour, please do not hesitate to check out their website and social media as follows.
TEXT: PAPHOP KERDSUP
detour.hk
facebook.com/detourhk