A designer and researcher. Evey Kwong’s practice focuses on issues relating to cultural and social approach to unfold the value for tradition and the process of making. Her works evolve in the themes of craft-based technology by connecting with the origin of material cultures, people and place. By working with craftspeople and experts from the arts and sciences, interweaving technical know-how, disciplinary traditions and social cultures, Evey opens up possibilities for multidisciplinary dialogues.
How do we bring continuity to good traditions and knowledge? How do we address the current consumption crisis and use low-technologies as a sustainable solution? How do we foster creativity outside of the conventional didactic educational system?
Currently, she is working on challenging the notion of “self” and “others” by proposing future narratives to crafts learning and building a network for knowledge transfer and communication. With her knowledge in design, she develops experimental co-making formats to inspire people to take action: Learn–Practice–Teach.
Born in West Malaysia, much of Evey Kwong’s practice to date has been informed by transnational and transcultural experiences, and through her Chinese descent. She left Malaysia in 2007 to study at the Academy of Arts Berlin and Leipzig. After graduating with a Diplom in Graphic Design in 2013, she immersed herself in European cultures, working and living as a graphic designer for cultural and commercial sector.
Later, she became the founder of futurprimitiv, an initiative founded in 2018. For her, stories and traditions are starting points in making. Acknowledging that material cultures are mediums for our minds, she believes in statement that we can't move forward without acknowledging the past and the history.
Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of European Cultures [DE], HOW&WOW BASK IT! [organised by Crafts Council Nederland for the Dutch Design Week] and U-JOINTS: Knots & Knits [Fiskars Biennale, FI].
Today, fuelled by her desire to promote crafts making in a contemporary way, she collaborates with various public and private institutions on design projects (commissions or research projects). She leads workshops where she shares her connection to craft technologies with students in art and design schools.
2023
July 13–14
May 9–10
Mar 19
‘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, Kunstshochschule Weißensee Berlin.
‘Collective Fibres’, live workshop, co-organised by Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya, supported by The Habitat Foundation.
2022
Nov 27
Creative Weaving: Whisk Broom, live workshop, futurprimitiv studio, Berlin
Aug 21
Sweeping with Tradition, live workshop, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin
Apr 26–29
Dis/Entangled, live workshop, Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts. Organised by Crafts Council Nederland and Zuyd Hogeschool.
Feb 12
Interwovenness, online workshop, Die Junge Akademie, Berlin
2020
Apr 26–May 03
In Silence We Create — A Sculptural Making Workshop, online workshop in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive
Jan 5
Collective Fibres, live workshop, in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya
2023
May 25–June 17
‘Situated Practices’, Loulé in Portugal. Organized by Origem Comum and Loulé Criativo. Funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe Institute.
Apr 17–23
Basketclub — a celebration of future crafts. Alcova, during the Salone del Mobile.
2022
Sept 20–23
Twisting & Twining — Pushing Rattan to the limit, World Design Capital Valencia
May 22–Sept 4
U-JOINTS: Knots & Knits, Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale, Finland
May 24–May 26 2024
All Hands On: Basketry, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin
Jan 21–Mar 8
Slanted and Enchanted, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto Design Week
2023
May 25–June 17
‘Rooted Craft’, 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 5–17
‘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
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
‘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
2023
‘Collective Fibres’ workshop, funded by The Habitat Foundation, Malaysia
2013
102030 Antalis Young Guns of the Year
2021
Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK] Collection, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
• Habkern and Urner whisk broom. Material purple-moor grass. Switzerland.
• Whisk broom. Material esparto. Origin of technique from Albacete and Murcia.
‘Loulé acolhe exposição «Práticas Situadas» da Origem Comum’, 2023
Basketclub, publication, 2023
Section article, ‘Textil’, Kunst kommt von Können, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Nr. 14, 2022
Article, ‘Biegen und Flechten’, Werde Magazin, Winter Edition 2020, DE / EN
A designer and researcher. Evey Kwong’s practice focuses on issues relating to cultural and social approach to unfold the value for tradition and the process of making. Her works evolve in the themes of craft-based technology by connecting with the origin of material cultures, people and place. By working with craftspeople and experts from the arts and sciences, interweaving technical know-how, disciplinary traditions and social cultures, Evey opens up possibilities for multidisciplinary dialogues.
How do we bring continuity to good traditions and knowledge? How do we address the current consumption crisis and use low-technologies as a sustainable solution? How do we foster creativity outside of the conventional didactic educational system?
Currently, she is working on challenging the notion of “self” and “others” by proposing future narratives to crafts learning and building a network for knowledge transfer and communication. With her knowledge in design, she develops experimental co-making formats to inspire people to take action: Learn–Practice–Teach.
Born in West Malaysia, much of Evey Kwong’s practice to date has been informed by transnational and transcultural experiences, and through her Chinese descent. She left Malaysia in 2007 to study at the Academy of Arts Berlin and Leipzig. After graduating with a Diplom in Graphic Design in 2013, she immersed herself in European cultures, working and living as a graphic designer for cultural and commercial sector.
Later, she became the founder of futurprimitiv, an initiative founded in 2018. For her, stories and traditions are starting points in making. Acknowledging that material cultures are mediums for our minds, she believes in statement that we can't move forward without acknowledging the past and the history.
Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of European Cultures [DE], HOW&WOW BASK IT! [organised by Crafts Council Nederland for the Dutch Design Week] and U-JOINTS: Knots & Knits [Fiskars Biennale, FI].
Today, fuelled by her desire to promote crafts making in a contemporary way, she collaborates with various public and private institutions on design projects (commissions or research projects). She leads workshops where she shares her connection to craft technologies with students in art and design schools.
2023
June 13–14
‘Connecting Twines’, live workshop, ‘Design for Change’ Retreat, New Order of Fashion [NOoF], Eindhoven NL.
May 9-10
‘50 Twines Experiment’, live workshop, organised in the frame of Greenlab: Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies, Kunsthochschule Weißensee Berlin.
Mar 19
‘Collective Fibres’, live workshop, co-organised by Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya, supported by The Habitat Foundation.
2022
Nov 27
Creative Weaving: Whisk Broom, live workshop, futurprimitiv studio, Berlin
Aug 21
Sweeping with Tradition, live workshop, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin
Apr 26–29
Dis/Entangled, live workshop, Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts. Organised by Crafts Council Nederland and Zuyd Hogeschool
2021
May 10–14
Crafting Futures, online workshop in collaboration with Foresta Academy
Feb 12
Interwovenness, online workshop, Die Junge Akademie, Berlin
2020
Apr 26–May 03
In Silence We Create — A Sculptural Making Workshop, live workshop in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive
Jan 5
Collective Fibres, live workshop in collaboration with Malaysia Design Archive and Rimba Ilmu, University of Malaya
2019
May 26
Begin teaching — Gefundenes Flechten, live workshop, Werkstube Gerswalde
2023
May 25–June 17
‘Situated Practices’, Loulé in Portugal. Organized by Origem Comum and supported by Loulé Criativo. Funded by the European Union under the program Culture Moves Europe.
Apr 17–23
Basketclub — a celebration of future crafts. Alcova, during the Salone del Mobile.
2022
Sept 20–23
Twisting & Twining — Pushing Rattan to the limit, World Design Capital Valencia
May 22–Sept 4
U-JOINTS: Knots & Knits, Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale, Finland
May 24–May 26 2024
All Hands On: Basketry, Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK], Berlin
Jan 21–Mar 8
Slanted and Enchanted, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto Design Week
2021
Oct 16–24
HOW&WOW BASK IT! by Crafts Council Nederland, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven
2023
May 25–June 17
‘Rooted Craft’, 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
2020–2021
Guest research fellow at Forces in Translation: Basketry, Maths and Anthropology
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
‘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
2023
‘Collective Fibres’ workshop, funded by The Habitat Foundation, Malaysia
2013
102030 Antalis Young Guns of the Year
2021
Museum Europäischer Kulturen [MEK] Collection, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
• Habkern and Urner whisk broom. Material purple-moor grass. Switzerland.
• Whisk broom. Material esparto. Origin of technique from Albacete and Murcia.
‘Loulé acolhe exposição «Práticas Situadas» da Origem Comum’, 2023
Basketclub, publication, 2023
Section 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
