It’s your last chance to check out Henry Steiner: The Art of Graphic Communication, whose run at M+ ends on November 10. But the first volume of our Zolima Culture Guide, Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong, is here to stay – and we’re planning a whole series of events to keep the conversation going.
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A story about Henry Steiner and Hong Kong itself
When Henry Steiner moved to Hong Kong in 1961, it was only meant to be for nine months. More than 60 years later, he is the most important graphic designer in the city’s history. In Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong, we explore the city through the lens of Steiner’s work, from the idea of East meets West, to the graphic identity of world-leading companies like HSBC, to Hong Kong icons like the Jockey Club, Hong Kong Land, Peak Tower, Ocean Terminal, Wellcome, Dairy Farm, Lane Crawford and more.
In the book, you’ll discover amusing anecdotes about Steiner’s sometimes eccentric way of working. You’ll learn things about Hong Kong you might not have known before. (What did a HK$10 Standard Chartered note get you in a bar on Lyndhurst Terrace? Which Scottish symbol inspired the HSBC logo? Which department store was designed by renowned architect Gio Ponti?) This is the story of a boy who fled the Holocaust and trained under the mid-century masters of design before making Hong Kong his home. And it’s the story of Hong Kong itself.
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A preview of what’s to come
What makes a city unique? That’s the question behind the Zolima Culture Guide. Each edition dives deep into a particular aspect of the city’s culture and history. It’s unconventional, surprising and always insightful. That was our motivation with Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong and it will be our guiding light to upcoming editions… which you’ll hear more about at our events next month.
Mark your calendars!
More details will be shared soon.
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Join our series of talks in November
- November 4: Foreign Correspondents’ Club (English)
At a lunch talk open to members and guests, authors Billy Potts and Christopher DeWolf will talk about the process of putting together Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong and share a sneak peek at our upcoming editions of the Zolima Culture Guide.
12:30 to 14:00 - November 12: University of Hong Kong (English)
Daniel Elam, a writer and assistant professor of comparative literature, will lead a discussion about Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong with Billy Potts and Christopher DeWolf.
18:30 to 20:30
Register here. - November 21: The Hari (part of The Hari Chronicles) (English)
Collector and designer John Wu will join Billy Potts to discuss the works of Henry Steiner – and he’ll bring some of the vintage objects featured in the photographs of Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong. Christopher DeWolf will moderate the conversation.
18:00 to 19:30
(fully booked) - November 30: Boundary Bookstore (Cantonese)
Join Billy Potts and Clementine Cheung for a chat about researching Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong, with insight into Steiner’s practice as well as the process of putting together the book.
14:30 to 16:00
Register here
Get your copy here
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About the speakers
Christopher DeWolf has been writing about Hong Kong for nearly 20 years, earning a reputation as one of the city’s leading journalists on architecture, design, history and culture. The author of Borrowed Spaces: Life Between the Cracks of Modern Hong Kong (Penguin, 2017), DeWolf has been Zolima CityMag’s managing editor since its launch in 2015, and his award-winning work has also appeared in other magazines and books around the world including TIME, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Good Beer Hunting and Spacing.
DeWolf is the co-author of the Zolima Culture Guide, Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong.
Billy Potts is a Hong Kong-born writer and designer whose work offers a unique perspective shaped by his lifelong immersion in the city’s cultural landscape. His writing for Zolima CityMag explores the city’s hidden stories and design heritage, including traditional crafts, calligraphy and more. Potts’ in-depth design and research study on defunct and abandoned signage, Hong Kong Ghost Signs, has been backed by both the Design Trust and Lord Wilson Heritage Trust. Through his design studio Handsome Co., Potts has worked on projects involving Hong Kong’s iconic trams, the classic Camel flask and other renowned local brands including Cathay Pacific, Ascot Chang, and more. Billy has a Chinese-English background and is fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Potts is the co-author of the Zolima Culture Guide, Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong.
John Wu is the founder of the Hong Kong graphic studio MODERNISM limited, the collector and graphic designer John Wu has constructed a timeline of Hong Kong’s evolution through the lens of graphic design thanks to his collection of more than 100,000 design objects made of Hong Kong artefacts like vintage maps, photographs, postcards, banknotes, toys, name cards, stamps and all manner of ephemera relating to the city. His collection is housed within the Hong Kong Graphic Archive at the Hong Kong Design Institute and comprises works by anonymous and renowned designers such as Henry Steiner, Kan Tai Keung, Alan Chan and Arthur Hacker. Through his ongoing work with The Mills, HKDI, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Alan Chan, Stanley Wong, K11, and CCIDAHK, Wu is digitising his collection to turn it into a valuable and exceptional design research resource that illuminates the origins of modern Hong Kong.
Based in Hong Kong, Hei-man Cheung, Clementine attained her degrees in Public and Urban Policy and Politics and Sociology in Glasgow. She works as a freelance writer, copywriter and translator for various statutory or non-governmental organisations, as well as cultural and artistic collectives. Cheung is involved in many creative, cultural and community-based projects and initiatives, including being facilitator of MaD’s (Make A Difference) programmes and being a commissioned artist at the Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival and deTour respectively.
Cheung is the translator of he Zolima Culture Guide, Henry Steiner’s Hong Kong.
Get your copy here!
For any question, please contact info@zolimacitymag.com