M+ presents the first-ever international edition of its talks series, M+ Matters, in Milan Copies without Borders: Imitation as Innovation

M+, Hong Kong’s future museum of visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District, is delighted to announce the first international edition of its talks series M+ Matters, Copies without Borders: Imitation as Innovation, at Atelier Clerici in Milan, on 14 April 2016. 

As part of the programme at Atelier Clerici, the leading hub of critical thinking during the annual Salone del Mobile in Milan, Copies without Borders: Imitation as Innovation brings M+ and its M+ Matters format to an international stage, contributing to the global discourse about copying as a methodology in contemporary design practice.

The characterisation of copying—of designs, ideas, and products—as a destabiliser of economic systems, a scourge on ‘legitimate’ modes of production, and even a moral-ethical failing can be seen as a relatively new phenomenon that arose during the Industrial Revolution. However, in a post-industrial, digital, and more culturally hybridised era, these biases are becoming increasingly difficult to delineate, defend, and maintain. Bringing together leading design practitioners, curators, and thinkers, this discussion explores alternative ways of thinking about copying as a generative act that produces both frictions and new potentials as it migrates across geographic borders.

Copies without Borders: Imitation as Innovation will be moderated by:

• Aric Chen, Lead Curator, Design and Architecture, M+
• Ikko Yokoyama, Curator, Design and Architecture, M+

Speakers include:

• Brendan Cormier, Lead Curator of Design for the Shekou Project, Victoria and Albert Museum
• Rossana Hu, Founding Partner, Neri&Hu Design and Research Office and Design Republic
• Sam Jacob, Principal, Sam Jacob Studio
• Naihan Li, Founder, NAIHANLI&CO.

M+ Matters is a series of workshops and lectures, in the run-up for the museum’s opening in 2019, that engage the public through the exploration of a range of relevant, timely and critical issues with leading scholars and curators in the fields of design and architecture, moving image, and visual art. A total of ten episodes of the M+ Matters series have been held since its launch in 2012.

Previous M+ Matters have examined a range of topics including Asian design; contemporary ink art; China’s museum building boom; the increasingly blurred boundaries between artwork and documentation; and postwar abstraction in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Information on previous M+ Matters, including speakers’ papers, can be found at www.mplusmatters.hk.
 

Public Talk - Copies without Borders: Imitation as Innovation

About M+ and M+ Matters

A cornerstone of the ambitious West Kowloon Cultural District, M+ is Hong Kong’s new museum of visual culture, encompassing twentieth and twenty-first century art, design and architecture, and moving image from Hong Kong, China, Asia, and beyond. In the run-up to the museum’s 2019 opening, the M+ Matters public talk series brings together leading scholars and thinkers to discuss issues critical to the museum’s curatorial approaches, initiatives, and strategies.