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futurprimitiv by Evey Kwong

ARTIST STATEMENT

A designer and researcher. Evey Kwong’s practice uncovers the value of histories and the process of making. Her work explores themes of craft-based technology by connecting with the origins of material knowledge, humans, and the environment. Through collaboration with craftspeople and experts from the arts, history, and ecology, Evey opens up possibilities for multidisciplinary dialogues.

Her current practice focuses on the routes and roots of material culture, the process of making and the people taking part in it. These experiences propose new narratives and networks for knowledge transfer, facilitating relationships between different people, places, animate and inanimate objects, and visible and invisible forces.

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Malaysia, much of Evey Kwong's practice to date has been informed by transcultural environment through her Malaysian Chinese roots. In 2007, she left Malaysia to study at the Academy of Arts in Berlin and Leipzig. After graduating with a Diplom in Graphic Design in 2013, she worked as a graphic designer for the cultural sector and immersed herself in European cultures.

Her interest in cultural exchange led her to follow the craftspeople in rural and indigenous communities. The question posed is whether tacit knowledge can be used to relate to the ‘other’ and to bridge the rural and urban gap. Can objects created from stories and knowledge not only reveal the past but also generate alternative narratives for design research?

Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of European Cultures [DE], HOW&WOW BASK IT! [organized by Crafts Council Nederland for the Dutch Design Week] and Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden [DE].

Today, driven by her desire to promote critical crafts making, she collaborates with various public and private institutions on design and research projects. She leads workshops to share her expertise in craft technologies with students in art and design schools. 


↓ Read CV below

EXHIBITIONS

2024

Nov 14–Mar 7

Rings in Water
The 12th edition of the international crafts-oriented design competition
ÚĽUV Gallery, Bratislava

Oct 10–Nov 10

ICAD 14th Edition: UNEXPECTED
‘Special Appearance Region: Borneo’ for Indonesian Contemporary Art & Design [ICAD], Jakarta.

Apr 27–Nov 11

“Chita’ Anyaman. Braiding Tales” for Plant Fever. Towards a Phyto-centred Design.
A group exhibition, Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden, Germany.

June 27–Sept 22

“Stork Fiction” for Madrugada exhibition 
A group exhibition, 2nd edition of the Lisbon International Biennial of Contemporary Jewellery

2023

Room for Change
A group exhibition of Design Campus by d-o-t-s, Vienna Design Week

Pleasure Garden
A group exhibition of ‘Curating Change’ by d-o-t-s, Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden

Almanac — Designers’ Perspective on the Resources of the Charentes Region
A group exhibition at Fondation d'entreprise Martell Fondation

Situated Practices. Utilities and craft perspectives.
A dual exhibition in Loulé, Portugal, organized by Origem Comum and Loulé Criativo. Funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe Institute.

Basketclub – a celebration of future crafts
A group exhibition, Alcova, Salone del Mobile

2022

Twisting & Twining — Pushing Rattan to the Limit
A group exhibition for the World Design Capital Valencia

U-JOINTS: Knots & Knits
A group exhibition, Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale, Finland

All Hands On: Basketry
A group exhibition, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin

Slanted and Enchanted
A group exhibition, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto Design Week 

2021

HOW&WOW BASK IT!
A group-exhibition by Crafts Council Nederland, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven

TEACHING &
CURATING

2024

Dec 9–13

Beyond Baskets
Live workshop, Faculty of Design, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle 

2023

Connecting Twines
Live workshop, ‘Design for Change’ Retreat, New Order of Fashion [NOoF], Eindhoven NL.

50 Twines Experiment
Live workshop, organised in the frame of  Greenlab: Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies, Kunsthochschule Weißensee Berlin.

Collective Fibres
Live workshop, co-organised by Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya, supported by The Habitat Foundation.

2022

Sweeping with Tradition
Live workshop, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin

Dis/Entangled
Live workshop, Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts. Organised by Crafts Council Nederland and Zuyd Hogeschool.

2021

Crafting Futures
Online workshop in collaboration with Foresta Academy

Interwovenness
Online workshop, Die Junge Akademie, Berlin

2020

In Silence We Create — A Sculptural Making Workshop
Online workshop in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive

Collective Fibres
Live workshop, in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya 

2019

Gefundenes Flechten
Live workshop, Werkstube Gerswalde

RESIDENCIES 

2023

Curating Change
A curation and research Summer School by d-o-t-s, The School of Phyto-centered Design, Design Campus Dresden.

Rooted Craft: Portugal
A research residency on rural crafts in Loulé, Portugal. Organized by Origem Comum, supported by Loulé Criativo and funded by European Union under the program of Culture Moves Europe.

2022

Countercurrent
A research and production residency conceived by d-o-t-s, produced by French Ministry of Culture, in the framework of the Mondes Nouveaux program. Venue: Domaine de Boisbuchet

RESEARCH

 

2020–2021

Guest research fellow at Forces in Translation: Basketry, Maths and Anthropology

WRITING

Essay, ‘In the beginning was the loop. The anthropology of basketry in Borneo.’, U-JOINTS — A taxonomy of connections, 2022

Article, ‘Lun Dayeh Baskets in Borneo’, Basketmakers’ Association Newsletter, May Edition 2021

futurprimitiv by Evey Kwong

LECTURES &
PANELS

‘Learn, Practice, Teach’, Dec 2024
Faculty of Design, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle 

‘Learn, Practice, Teach’, July 13, 2023
‘Design for Change’ Retreat, New Order of Fashion [NOoF]

‘Learn, Practice, Teach’, June 2023
‘Situated Practices’, Loulé in Portugal. Organized by Origem Comum and Loulé Criativo

‘BASK IT! talks’: A Future of Basketry, May 2021 
Crafts Council Nederland for ‘BASK IT! talks’: a series of talks all about basketry

Borneo Bengkel, May 2021
Re-contextualizing and re-imagining cultural heritage for new audiences

Breakfast Dialogues with Tattfoo Tan, May 2020

AWARDS &
GRANTS

2024

‘Stork Fiction’, an official selection of the RAKSA Ciné-Danse Festival.

‘Stork Fiction’, an the official selection of the 3rd edition of the Manifest Dance-Film Festival and is screened at Alliance Française de Pondicherry.

‘Stork Fiction’, an official selection of the Festival Videodanza de Puerto Rico.

‘Stork Fiction’, an official selection of the 11th edition of the ScreenDance Festival and is screened in Stockholm’s Dansmuseet.

2023

‘Culture Moves Europe’ by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and implemented by Goethe Institute.

‘Collective Fibres’ workshop, funded by The Habitat Foundation, Malaysia

JURY MEMBER

2023

‘ALL HANDS ON: Basketry’ – Artisans in Residence for the Museum European Cultures [MEK]

IN COLLECTION

OF

2021

Museum of European Cultures [MEK] Collection, Berlin State Museums
• Habkern and Urner whisk broom. Material purple-moor grass. Switzerland. 
• Whisk broom. Material esparto. Origin of technique from Albacete and Murcia.

PRESS

Catalogue, Mondes Nouveaux, pg. 188-189, 2023

Project, Rooted Craft—A research residency in Loulé, 2023

Article, The ROOM FOR CHANGE installation at Vienna Design Week, 2023

Article, ‘Loulé acolhe exposição «Práticas Situadas» da Origem Comum’, 2023

Publication, Basketclub, 2023

Article, ‘Textil’, Kunst kommt von Können, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Nr. 14, 2022

Article, ‘Biegen und Flechten’, Werde Magazin, Winter Edition 2020, DE / EN

futurprimitiv by Evey Kwong
futurprimitiv by Evey Kwong

AFFILIATIONS

Greenlab — Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies
Crafts Council Nederland
d-o-t-s
Domaine de Boisbuchet
The Home Project
U-JOINTS
Basketclub
The Basketmakers’ Association

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futurprimitiv by Evey Kwong

ARTIST STATEMENT

A designer and researcher. Evey Kwong’s practice uncovers the value of histories and the process of making. Her work explores themes of craft-based technology by connecting with the origins of material knowledge, humans, and the environment. Through collaboration with craftspeople and experts from the arts, history, and ecology, Evey opens up possibilities for multidisciplinary dialogues.

Her current practice focuses on the routes and roots of material culture, the process of making and the people taking part in it. 
These experiences propose new narratives and networks for cultural exchange, facilitating relationships between different people, places, animate and inanimate objects, and visible and invisible forces.

 

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Malaysia, much of Evey Kwong's practice to date has been informed by transcultural environment through her Malaysian Chinese roots. In 2007, she left Malaysia to study at the Academy of Arts in Berlin and Leipzig. After graduating with a Diplom in Graphic Design in 2013, she worked as a graphic designer for the cultural sector and immersed herself in European cultures.

Her interest in cultural exchange led her to follow the craftspeople in rural and indigenous communities. The question posed is whether tacit knowledge can be used to relate to the ‘other’ and to bridge the rural and urban gap. Can objects created from stories and knowledge not only reveal the past but also generate alternative narratives for design research?

Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of European Cultures [DE], HOW&WOW BASK IT! [organized by Crafts Council Nederland for the Dutch Design Week] and Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden [DE].

Today, driven by her desire to promote critical crafts making, she collaborates with various public and private institutions on design and research projects. She leads workshops to share her expertise in craft technologies with students in art and design schools. 

 

 

↓ Read CV below

EXHIBITIONS

2024

Nov 14–Mar 7
Rings in Water
The 12th edition of the international crafts-oriented design competition
ÚĽUV Gallery, Bratislava

Oct 10–Nov 10
ICAD 14th Edition: UNEXPECTED
‘Special Appearance Region: Borneo’ for Indonesian Contemporary Art & Design [ICAD], Jakarta. 

Apr 27–Nov 11
“Chita’ Anyaman. Braiding Tales” for Plant Fever. Towards a Phyto-centred Design.
A group exhibition, Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden, Germany.

June 27–Sept 22
“Stork Fiction” for Madrugada exhibition 
A group exhibition, 2nd edition of the Lisbon International Biennial of Contemporary Jewellery


2023

Room for Change
A group exhibition of Design Campus by d-o-t-s, Vienna Design Week

Pleasure Garden
A group exhibition of ‘Curating Change’ by d-o-t-s, Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden.

Almanac — Designers’ Perspective on the Resources of the Charentes Region
A group exhibition, Fondation d'entreprise Martell Fondation

Situated Practices. Utilities and craft perspectives.
A dual exhibition in Loulé, Portugal, organized by Origem Comum and Loulé Criativo. Funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe Institute.

Basketclub – a celebration of future crafts.
A group exhibition, Alcova, Salone del Mobile.

2022

Twisting & Twining — Pushing Rattan to the Limit
A group exhibition, World Design Capital Valencia

U-JOINTS: Knots & Knits
A group exhibition, Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale, Finland

All Hands On: Basketry
A group exhibition, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin

Slanted and Enchanted
A group exhibition, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto Design Week 


2021

HOW&WOW BASK IT!
A group exhibition by Crafts Council Nederland, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven

TEACHING & CURATING

2024

Beyond Baskets
Live workshop, Faculty of Design, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle 

2023

Connecting Twines
Live workshop, ‘Design for Change’ Retreat, New Order of Fashion [NOoF], Eindhoven NL.

50 Twines Experiment
Live workshop, organised in the frame of  Greenlab: Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies, Kunsthochschule Weißensee Berlin.

Collective Fibres
Live workshop, co-organised by Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya, supported by The Habitat Foundation.

2022

Sweeping with Tradition
Live workshop, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin

Dis/Entangled
Live workshop, Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts. Organised by Crafts Council Nederland and Zuyd Hogeschool


2021

Crafting Futures
Online workshop in collaboration with Foresta Academy

Interwovenness
Online workshop, Die Junge Akademie, Berlin


2020

In Silence We Create — A Sculptural Making Workshop
Live workshop in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive

Collective Fibres
Live workshop in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya 


2019

Begin teaching — Gefundenes Flechten
Live workshop, Werkstube Gerswalde

RESIDENCIES 


2023

Aug 17–25
Curating Change
A curation and research Summer School by d-o-t-s, The School of Phyto-centered Design, Design Campus Dresden.

May 25–June 17
Rooted Craft: Portugal
A research residency on rural crafts in Loulé, Portugal. Organized by Origem Comum, supported by Loulé Criativo and funded by European Union under the program of Culture Moves Europe.


2022

Sept 5-18
Countercurrent
A research and production residency conceived by d-o-t-s, produced by French Ministry of Culture, in the framework of the Mondes Nouveaux program. Venue: Domaine de Boisbuchet

RESEARCH

2020–2021
Guest research fellow at Forces in Translation: Basketry, Maths and Anthropology

WRITING

Essay, ‘In the beginning was the loop. The anthropology of basketry in Borneo.’, U-JOINTS — A taxonomy of connections, 2022

Article, ‘Lun Dayeh Baskets in Borneo’, Basketmakers’ Association Newsletter, May Edition 2021

LECTURES & PANELS

‘Learn, Practice, Teach’, Dec 2024
Faculty of Design, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle 

‘Learn, Practice, Teach’, July 13, 2023
‘Design for Change’ Retreat, New Order of Fashion [NOoF]

‘Learn, Practice, Teach’, June 2023
‘Situated Practices’, Loulé in Portugal. Organized by Origem Comum and Loulé Criativo

‘BASK IT! talks’: A Future of Basketry, May 2021 
Crafts Council Nederland for ‘BASK IT! talks’: a series of talks all about basketry

Borneo Bengkel, May 2021
Re-contextualizing and re-imagining cultural heritage for new audiences

Breakfast Dialogues with Tattfoo Tan, May 2020

AWARDS & GRANTS

2024

‘Stork Fiction’, an official selection of the RAKSA Ciné-Danse Festival.

‘Stork Fiction’, an the official selection of the 3rd edition of the Manifest Dance-Film Festival and is screened at Alliance Française de Pondicherry.

‘Stork Fiction’, an official selection of the Festival Videodanza de Puerto Rico.

‘Stork Fiction’, an official selection of the 11th edition of the ScreenDance Festival and is screened in Stockholm’s Dansmuseet.


2023
‘Culture Moves Europe’ by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and implemented by Goethe Institute.

‘Collective Fibres’ workshop, funded by The Habitat Foundation, Malaysia

JURY MEMBER

2023
‘ALL HANDS ON: Basketry’ – Artisans in Residence for the Museum European Cultures [MEK]

IN COLLECTION OF

2021
Museum of European Cultures [MEK] Collection, Berlin State Museums
• Habkern and Urner whisk broom. Material purple-moor grass. Switzerland. 
• Whisk broom. Material esparto. Origin of technique from Albacete and Murcia.

PRESS

Catalogue, Mondes Nouveaux, pg. 188-189, 2023

Project, Rooted Craft—A research residency in Loulé, 2023

Article, The ROOM FOR CHANGE installation at Vienna Design Week, 2023

Article, ‘Loulé acolhe exposição «Práticas Situadas» da Origem Comum’, 2023

Publication, Basketclub, 2023

Article, ‘Textil’, Kunst kommt von Können, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Nr. 14, Apr. 8, 2022

Article, ‘Biegen und Flechten’, Werde Magazin, Winter Edition 2020, DE / EN

futurprimitiv by Evey Kwong

AFFILIATIONS

Greenlab — Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies
Crafts Council Nederland
d-o-t-s
Domaine de Boisbuchet
The Home Project
U-JOINTS
Basketclub
The Basketmakers’ Association

↑