Hong Kong Art Toy Story 2024@Jakarta Presents Exhibits of Renowned Hong Kong Art Toy Designers

Showcases Original Iconic Works from Hong Kong over the Past Three Decades

The First Ever "Art Toys X Comics" Exhibits Featuring Exclusive Collaborative Art Toys

HONG KONG, Oct. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Organised by the Innovative Entrepreneur Association (IEA) and sponsored by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA), the Hong Kong Art Toy Story 2024@Jakarta will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia from 15 to 24 November 2024. With the theme "Unbox", the exhibition will feature five thematic zones showcasing over 330 pieces of original art toys designed by renowned and emerging Hong Kong designers, including gigantic installations. This is also the first large scale "Hong Kong Art Toy Story" promotional exhibition held in Indonesia after the Bangkok chapter in 2022, aims to assist Hong Kong's original art toy designers in expanding into overseas markets, particularly the ASEAN markets. The over 330 pieces of exhibits include original art toys created by Hong Kong designers over the past three decades; some of which are museum- and auction-level collectibles that are rare to see in recent years, which allow visitors to appreciate the history and uniqueness of Hong Kong's art toy culture. 

To commemorate the exhibition, IEA held a launch ceremony today in Hong Kong and was honoured to have Mr. LAU Chun, JP, Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, to be the guest of honour and deliver a speech at the ceremony. He was joined by Ms. Cherrie CHONG, President of IEA, and Mr. Johnson CHIANG, the exhibition's curator in launching the exhibition. The 12 exhibiting renowned and emerging Hong Kong designers also brought their original art toys to the launch ceremony, sharing their thoughts about taking part in this exhibition.

Mr. LAU Chun, JP, Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism expressed his gratitude to the IEA for organising this exhibition, which provides a platform for promoting Hong Kong's art toy culture overseas. He wished the exhibition every success and a rewarding expedition for the exhibiting designers and comics artists.

Ms. Cherrie CHONG, President of IEA, said at the launch ceremony, "IEA has been organising overseas exhibition tours for Hong Kong's original art toy designers since 2022, which not only increase more international exposures for them to showcase their works to art toy fans and buyers around the world, but also to further promote Hong Kong's art toy brands. After the Hong Kong pavilion at Thailand Toy Expo held earlier this year, we hope that the Jakarta exhibition can help Hong Kong original art toy designers explore more business opportunities."

Trend-based art toys integrate unique style and creativity of designers and artists, which gain popularity of fans and collectors from all over the world. The Hong Kong Art Toy Story 2024@Jakarta will divide the public area of the Mall of Indonesia into five zones, namely "Amazing Art Toy Zone", "Brilliant Art Toy Zone", "Classic Art Toy Zone", "Discovery Zone", and the first-ever collaborative zone "Art Toy X Comics" where six popular Hong Kong art toy designers and six well-known Hong Kong comic artists are paired up to create limited edition of art toy pieces together. Exhibiting Hong Kong original art toy designers and comic artists will also attend the Jakarta exhibition and talks to share with visitors on the uniqueness of Hong Kong's art toys, thereby promoting Hong Kong's original art toys culture.

Amazing Art Toy Zone

Four acclaimed Hong Kong original art toy designers (in no particular order), Winson MA, Kenny WONG, Steven CHOI and Felix IP, will display their iconic works, creating a unique exhibition space. Visitors can learn about these designers' brands and their uniqueness, style, creativity and design concepts.

Brilliant Art Toy Zone

Splendid works from eight brilliant Hong Kong original art toy designers (in no particular order), namely Nicolas LESAFFRE, Jeffery YAU, Kin LEUNG, Gino LAI, Sunny TAM, Joseph TANG, Tony LEUNG and Leo PAK, will be shown in this zone, elaborating the vibrant creativity of Hong Kong art toy brands, some of which are relatively new to the market.

Collaborative Zone of "Art Toys X Comics"

This zone brings together six pairs of highly acclaimed Hong Kong art toy designers and renowned Hong Kong comic artists, collaborated for the first time to create new art toys based on the comic artists' IP characters. They are (in no particular order) Winson MA x KWONG Chi Kit, Jeffery YAU x Pen SO, Kin LEUNG x LI Chi Tak, Leo PAK x Andy SETO, Nicolas LESAFFRE x Bonnie PANG and Joseph TANG x Linus LIU. Visitors will experience the unique thinking and surprises brought about by the cross-sector collaboration.

Classic Art Toy Zone

This zone guides the visitors to discover the journey of Hong Kong art toys' development and international achievements by featuring some rare and precious exhibits that can be dated back to the 1990s. Some posters, videos, magazines and different peripherals of high historical value will be exhibited to highlight the significant milestones of Hong Kong art toys. 

Discovery Zone

Some of the exhibiting Hong Kong original art toy designers and comic artists will appear at the exhibition in Jakarta to participate in a series of extended activities, including talks, workshops, etc. An AR interactive photography area connecting virtual and real scenes is also set up in this zone. Visitors can take their photos with the art toy characters using AR and then share them on social media platforms to receive fabulous souvenirs contributed by the art toy designers and the organiser from the on-site giant size toy capsule machine.

Opens to public for free admission from 10am to 10pm, the Hong Kong Art Toy Story 2024@Jakarta will be held in Mall of Indonesia, Jarkata from 15 to 24 November 2024. More details can be found on the project's website, as well as Facebook and Instagram pages..

About the Curator

Mr. Johnson CHIANG, former President of the Hong Kong Society of Illustrators (2014-2016), is the curator of the Hong Kong Art Toy Story 2024@Jakarta. Mr. Chiang is also the creator of cartoon, John Dog, which won the first runner-up of "Original Anime Human Design Competition" in 2015. He has published the creative reference book "Creativity, Come On!", and is currently the lead instructor of the Diploma Programme in Creative Illustration organised by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) Academy. Mr. Chiang has extensive curatorial experiences, including several illustration exhibitions in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Taipei, as well as serving as curator and project chairman of the "Greater China Illustration Awards"* touring exhibition, and curator of the "Hong Kong Illustration X Creative Design Brand Exhibition" * in 2019 and the "Let's Unbox! 2022 Hong Kong Art Tory Story Exhibition, Thailand Chapter"* in 2022.

About the Organiser

Since 2007, Innovative Entrepreneur Association (https://iea.org.hk) was established by the winners of the Innovative Entrepreneur Awards, which aims to strengthen the promotion of the spirit of "Innovative Entrepreneurship"and business education in Hong Kong and other regions, so that the winners can share their experiences and business strategies with aspiring entrepreneurs. The association has held large-scale design exhibitions in Shanghai, Taipei and Bangkok, with the upcoming one in Jakarta.  Every year, IEA also organizes the "Design Licensing and Business (DLAB) Support Scheme"*, providing training and exhibition promotion support for Hong Kong's new designers and copyright owners of licensable characters.

About the Lead Sponsor

The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) (https://www.ccidahk.gov.hk) established in June 2024, formerly known as Create Hong Kong (CreateHK), is a dedicated office set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to provide one-stop services and support to the cultural and creative industries with a mission to foster a conducive environment in Hong Kong to facilitate the development of arts, culture and creative sectors as industries. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, promoting cross-sectoral and cross-genre collaboration, promoting the development of arts, culture and creative sectors as industries under the industry-oriented principle, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia's creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community to implement Hong Kong's positioning as the East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange under the National 14th Five-Year Plan.

*Sponsored by CCIDA