WoW! Hong Kong Design Series II — East-West Design Reflections: Haven Collection's Ming Furniture and a Century of Chair Play

The "WoW! Hong Kong Design Series" exhibition programme, launched in 2024, aims to highlight the creativity and vision of local designers by showcasing items from the museum's design collections alongside specially selected works of international distinction. For this second exhibition in the series, titled "East-West Design Reflections", renowned Hong Kong designer Freeman Lau has been invited as the guest curator to explore the enduring status of Ming furniture as a cultural symbol of China, and its ongoing influence on contemporary design. The exhibition pairs classic pieces from the Haven Collection of Ming fine wood furniture with artistic chairs from the Hong Kong Heritage Museum's collection as well as iconic works of modern furniture design, to generate in-depth conversations between past and present. The craftsmanship on display ranges from traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery to cutting-edge 3D-printing techniques, and the materials from precious Chinese rosewood to eco-friendly upcycled resources. Bridging East and West and pairing tradition and innovation, the exhibition traces the origins and evolution of Chinese furniture design, in the process revealing the refined aesthetics and masterful workmanship of Ming furniture and its continuing influence across eras and cultures. A series of talks will be held during the exhibition, inviting audiences to explore the craftsmanship and design of Ming furniture and to examine how Chinese culture is deeply rooted in everyday life and has shaped the evolving aesthetics of everyday objects over the past century.