Swedish concept “Art & Design Market” makes debut in Hong Kong

XIKO Art, a Swedish designer company, has gathered several Swedish artists for a week-long pop-up in Hong Kong marking the local debut of the Art & Design Market concept. The unique pop-up was in the trendy and vibrant neighbourhood of SoHo between October 31 and November 6. The concept for the pop-up was Swedish Design, with 8 different designer companies that have a close connection to Sweden including Design Lena W, Frida Hulten, Viktoria Chan, Mod Stockholm, Ewa Dolck, XIKO Art, ISAK and Van Deurs.

The work of these designers that joined the Hong Kong edition spanned across jewellery, fashion, accessories and household decorations which made for an eclectic collection of art. From outside, passers-by could see the bright lights coming from the innovative plexiglass art that reimagines original art as lamps with artistic effects. “Light was important for us because we wanted to make sure you could see the art from outside, especially at night when we switch on the lamps,” Christian Bergenstrahle, founder of XIKO Art and curator of the design market told us.

Christian Bergenstrahle started the Designer Market together with Frida Hultén and Susanne Beskow back in Stockholm. They realised it’s a lot more fun for designers to collaborate and help each other in succeeding with their own business.  Everything happens in collaboration where each designer opens his own network to others, and in exchange also gets exposure to other networks and meets new clients. The Art & Design Market has been held in the XIKO Art gallery in Stockholm several times, and the pop-up in Hong Kong marks the first time the concept goes abroad.

“We attended the seminar on the Future of Retail in Kennedy Town held by Storefront and were really excited about the idea of opening a pop-up in Hong Kong,” Christian said. “The Storefront platform was a really useful tool for us to find a location with quality lighting conditions, big windows and was situated in a vibrant neighbourhood. We eventually chose this location in SoHo because the neighbourhood has a design feeling. This street is super cute.”

“The pop-up strategy was the perfect solution for us to set foot in Hong Kong. With a pop-up we have the possibility to have a presence here, without the big investment of a long-term lease,” Christian explained. “If this works out well, we will do it again. In fact, I’m thinking of closing down my gallery and only doing pop-ups. Only do it the modern way instead of the traditional way.”

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