China’s 14th Five-Year Plan supports the development of Hong Kong into a cultural and artistic exchange centre between China and overseas. The Hong Kong SAR Government promotes cultural exchanges with foreign countries by organising large-scale cultural events.
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has responded by organising diverse exhibitions and cultural activities, promoting designer brands and products, and supports the cultivation of creative talents to promote the development of the local cultural and creative industry.
The HKTDC’s Design Gallery, committed to promoting traditional crafts and Hong Kong’s original designs, is presenting the Love HK 2024 event – the Small Wonders Miniature Showcase of Hong Kong Exhibition, featuring miniatures on display until 7 July.
The model art studio TOMA Miniatures collaborated with the HKTDC to display 16 hand-made three-dimensional miniature models with Hong Kong elements, allowing the public to appreciate the feelings of Hong Kong and inherit the unique local culture.
Works include models of the traditional Hong Kong festival activities such as the Cheung Chau Bun Scrambling, Blessing Villain Hitting on Bowrington Road in Wan Chai, as well as Steakhouse + Dim Sum + Peking Duck merging Eastern and Western food culture.
Models also include the traditional Teahouse and landmark century-old historic site Woo Cheong Pawnshop in Wan Chai and typical 1970s Public Housing Estate and distinctive business premises such as hair salons. Four of the works - Wedding Banquet, Northern Chinese Food Store, Chinese Herbal Medicine Shop and Shadow Puppets Play are publicly displayed for the first time.
The works were created by students led by two full-time Hong Kong miniature artists, who sought to display Hong Kong’s traditional culture to produce exquisite and delicate miniature works that present Hong Kong’s traditions and architectural features.
In addition to master-class productions, the exhibition also displays works by students based on the intangible cultural heritage such as shadow puppetry and the old-fashioned traditional medicine Shop. The Design Gallery also selected a series of Hong Kong-specific products for the public to purchase during the exhibition.
The TOMA Miniatures exhibition founders Maggie Chan and Tony Lai use their unique touch to create three-dimensional miniature works with unique Hong Kong characteristics, recreate the city’s collective memories and protect these features from being eroded by time. The works in this exhibition are small and exquisite, with a maximum reduction rate of 50 times compared with the real thing, without losing any detail. For example, the bun-grabbing athletes are tiny, but facial expressions are displayed in detail.
Ms Chan said: "I am very grateful to the Hong Kong Design Gallery for inviting TOMA Miniatures to participate in the Love HK event, so that our unique miniatures can be displayed to the public through the design gallery’s display window, allowing them to experience Hong Kong's traditional culture and history from a unique perspective, allowing the public to have a direct dialogue with old Hong Kong.”
Mr Lai said: “We believe that Hong Kong's unique culture and history need to be preserved, and miniaturisation is a technology that can make memories three-dimensional, concrete and permanent. Therefore, we attach great importance to the inheritance of miniature technology, so that the technology can be used at every point in the future to preserve and continue important culture.”
The upcoming Hong Kong Book Fair will engage the whole city in the Cultural July ▪ Reading Summer event; concurrent activities include the Hong Kong Sports and Leisure Expo and World of Snacks.
