A Landmark Exhibition Exploring Seven Decades of How Hong Kong Told Its Story to the World

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 April 2026 – Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), with the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) as lead sponsor, proudly presents ‘From Memory to Horizon: The Visual Language of Hong Kong Tourism’. On view from 23 April to 6 July 2026 at The Design Museum, DX design hub, the exhibition is led by designer David Lo as lead curator, with design artifact collector John Wu as co-curator. Tracing how Hong Kong has, since the 1950s, carefully shaped its tourism image and city identity through design, imagery and storytelling, the exhibition highlights the foundations of Hong Kong’s international presence. In collaboration with partners across aviation, hospitality and the creative industries, it showcases rare visual archives the distinctive value of Hong Kong design.

Tourism has long been woven into the fabric of Hong Kong’s identity, embodying the spirit of a ‘city of hospitality’. Yet the cross-regional appeal did not emerge by chance. Long before the age of the internet and social media, countless people who had never set foot in Hong Kong were inspired by a poster, a hand-drawn illustration, or an advertisement to feel a desire to visit. This very question forms the core theme and starting point of the exhibition.

Ms. Rainy Chan, Executive Director of Hong Kong Design Centre, remarked: ‘This exhibition, built on a rich collection of historical visuals and stories, underscores the profound role tourism has played in shaping Hong Kong’s identity. “From Memory to Horizon” reflects Hong Kong Design Centre’s mission to champion creativity through cross-sector collaboration, showcasing how design connects our shared heritage with future opportunities. We invite both local and international audiences to engage with the enduring spirit and ingenuity of Hong Kong, and to appreciate how the city’s visual language of tourism continues to inspire new possibilities.’

Curators David Lo and John Wu added: ‘For decades, we have rarely paused to closely examine how visual design, language, and creative strategies have been used to present Hong Kong to the world. The aesthetics behind these efforts are both elegant and precise. Through Western eyes, Hong Kong shines as a dazzling, multifaceted “Pearl of the Orient”; through local eyes, it embodies deeply rooted values and memories. This exhibition offers audiences a chance to experience Hong Kong anew, through intersecting visual narratives that reveal how design has shaped its global image.’

Five Themed Spaces: A City in Motion

To present the richly layered urban landscape of Hong Kong, the exhibition is organised into five thematic zones. From the very first step, the exhibition design gently transports visitors across time and space, guiding them on a carefully choreographed visual journey.

Zone 1 – The Names of Hong Kong:

Every story begins with a name. As visitors enter, a cascade of titles and typographic forms unfolds. From ‘Fragrant Harbour’ to ‘Pearl of the Orient’, each nickname reflects a particular era’s identity and imagination for the city, serving as a calling card that Hong Kong presented to the world at different moments in its history.

Zone 2 – Hong Kong is Our Home:

This zone features promotional materials from local carriers and official association to show how Hong Kong was simultaneously constructed as ‘home’ and ‘destination’. From the abstract, exotic visuals of the 1950s and 60s to the more vivid and realistic cityscapes of the 1980s and 90s, Hong Kong was portrayed as a source of pride for its residents and a place of longing for those who had never set foot here.

Zone 3 – Hong Kong in the Movies:

Using hand-drawn illustrations in the style of movie posters, this zone weaves Hong Kong’s everyday urban scenes into a collage of a complex, multi-faceted city. Iconic Eastern and Western characters set against the Victoria Harbour skyline reveal how cinema transformed ordinary street scenes into irreplaceable visual symbols in the memories of audiences worldwide.

Zone 4 – Hotels and Tourism Visions:

Long before international chains arrived, homegrown hotels played a crucial role in bridging East and West. The film ‘The World of Suzie Wong’ brought the century-old hotel Lok Kwok Hotel (now known as Gloucester Luk Kwok Hong Kong) to global attention, turning it into a pilgrimage site for film lovers. From The Peninsula Hong Kong and Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong to the now vanished The Excelsior, Hong Kong, hotel brand identities and graphic design allowed visitors, from the moment they arrived, to experience Hong Kong’s distinctive blend of luxury, business efficiency, and cosmopolitan urban life.

Zone 5 – Green Horizons:

Hong Kong has never been only neon lights and skyscrapers. Beyond the city’s glittering façade lies another Hong Kong – one revealed along long-distance hiking trails, in Mai Po, and across the country parks, where mountains, forests, mudflats, and wetlands also featured in tourism imagery. These natural landscapes remind us that Hong Kong has always been more expansive than we tend to imagine.

Exhibition details:

Disclaimer for the Exhibition Zone ‘Hong Kong in the Movies’:

The illustrations presented in the ‘Hong Kong in the Movies’ zone are original, independently commissioned artworks created as a design tribute to Hong Kong cinema culture. They are not official reproductions of any film, and are not endorsed by, affiliated with, or authorised by any actor, studio, or rights holder.

Hashtag: #HKDesignCentre #HKDC #FromMemorytoHorizon #CSTB #CCIDAHK #CCIDA

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About David Lo

David Lo is the Founder and Creative Director of LOMATTERS, with over thirty years of experience spanning brand strategy, creative leadership, and consultancy. His work begins with a conviction: that the most enduring brands are not built — they are uncovered. Beneath every great brand lies a story that existed before the marketing, before the campaigns. Lo’s expertise is in finding that story, sharpening it, and giving it a language that speaks clearly to new audiences in a new era.

He has held Creative Director roles at bgx, Alan Chan Design Company, and Grey Global Group’s brand division Wba, and served as Group General Manager of South China Media, overseeing Esquire and CarPlus, before founding LOMATTERS in 2006. Over the years he has advised a wide range of local and international organizations on brand positioning, strategy, and heritage — across family business, property, hospitality, telecommunications, and consumer goods. His work has earned over a hundred local and international accolades, among them the One Show, Communication Arts, ADC, and the HKDA Global Design Awards.

About John Wu

John Wu, the founder of MODERNISM, veteran graphic designer, historian of Hong Kong, and collector of design artifacts. He has devoted himself to preserving and promoting the city’s visual culture heritage, with a particular focus on the deep connections among local graphic design, printed matter, typography, corporate identity, and urban memory. he has also safeguarded a rich body of rare physical objects and documentary materials tied to that history.

Over the years, Mr. Wu has methodically collected and organized Hong Kong design works and historical objects from different eras, providing research material of exceptional value for the study of the city’s homegrown design development. He has lent items from his collection and archival resources to the media and to researchers for publication, and has shared them through exhibitions in a range of venues.

In collaboration with the Hong Kong Design Institute, Mr. Wu helped establish the Graphic Archive, working with various institutions and partners, has overseen the digitization, study, and public sharing of a vast collection of materials. Through scholarship and public platforms, he has sought to set the historical record of Hong Kong design on firmer ground. His efforts have allowed important local design heritage to be rediscovered and reassessed in the present day, while inspiring a new generation to draw from Hong Kong’s distinct visual culture and carry forward the city’s creative spirit and cultural values.

About DX design hub

Operated by Hong Kong Design Centre, DX design hub in Sham Shui Po nurtures emerging design talents and fashion designers, fostering creativity and collaboration. Showcasing the synergy between design disciplines, it serves as a vibrant platform for community engagement and creative tourism. The Hub offers exhibition spaces, activity spaces, and a retail area for designers to gain hands-on experience. It functions as a central workstation for HKDC and design-related Associations, leading initiatives to promote fashion and diverse design projects. With a mission to inspire creativity and innovation, we aim to enable the Hub to become the creative anchor in Hong Kong with various specialized zones including The Square, The Fashion-Pop, The Box, The Gallery, The Design Museum, The Annex, The Steps, The Lounge, The Barn and The Fashion Spotlight.

The construction work of the Hub is undertaken by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), ensuring a state-of-the-art facility that supports our vision. The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is responsible for strategy formulation, coordination, and supervision, guiding the Hub’s initiatives to align with industry needs and aspirations.

About Hong Kong Design Centre (www.hkdesigncentre.org)

Hong Kong Design Centre is a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in leveraging the city’s East-meets-West advantage to create value from design.

The major programmes include Business of Design Week, DFA Awards, Fashion Asia Hong Kong and BODW In the City. Since 2024, we have also been operating the DX design hub in Sham Shui Po, dedicated to fostering emerging design talents and facilitating collaborations and exchanges in the design industry, as well as providing visitors an immersive experience through innovative exhibitions, fashion showcases and cultural events.

To achieve our goals, we:

• Cultivate a culture of design
• Bridge stakeholders to opportunities that unleash the power of design
• Promote excellence in various design disciplines

About Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (www.ccidahk.gov.hk)

The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA), formerly known as Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) since 2009, was established in June 2024. CCIDA is a dedicated office under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) to provide one-stop services and support to the cultural and creative sectors with a mission to foster a conducive environment in Hong Kong to facilitate development of the arts, culture and creative sectors as industries. CCIDA’s strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, promoting cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary collaboration, promoting industrialisation of the arts, culture and creative sectors under the industry-oriented principle, and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community, thereby reinforcing Hong Kong as Asia’s creative capital and our positioning as the East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.

Disclaimer: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to some of HKDC’s activities/projects only, and does not otherwise take part in such funded activities/projects. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication and relevant materials/events (or by members of the project teams) are those of HKDC only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.