Book Lab: Publication Seminar Series
Day 2 – 18th Nov 2023
Key Speaker:
- Aron Morel – Founder and Director of Mörel Books
Aron Morel, the founder of Morel Books, established Morel in 2008/2009. Morel specializes in publishing works by both established and emerging artists, primarily focusing on lens-based arts. Previous books include titles by Boris Mikhailov, Corinne Day, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Ryan Gander, Thomas Ruff, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ryan McGinley, Nick Waplington,
Morel works closely with writers and curators on their projects including Simon baker, Nina power, david campany, Irvine Welsh, Omar Kholief.
Approaching each project as a collaboration, Morel actively engages with artists throughout the conception, editing, and design phases. The goal is to craft an artist’s book that embraces idiosyncrasies, deliberately steering away from the conventions of traditional publisher-produced books.
Morel views the book as an important aspect of an artist’s practice and as a powerful cultural conduit.
- Sarah Greene – Director of Blue Lotus Gallery
Belgium-born Sarah Greene is the owner of an independent photography gallery in Sheung Wan that has a strong focus on exploring Hong Kong’s culture and identity. Established in 2007, the Blue Lotus Gallery represents some of Hong Kong leading photographers such as Ho Fan, Michael Kenna and Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze and remains supporting local and international talent through exhibitions, fairs and consultancy projects. The gallery started publishing its own artist-driven projects under the publishing house Blue Lotus Editions, including books like ‘Thirty-six Views of Lion Rock’ by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze and ‘The Dreaming’ by Yasuhiro Ogawa and ‘The Labyrinth’ by Christopher Button.
- Ashley Lee – Account Director of Kith&Kin
In her six years with Kith&Kin, Ashley has taken on the role of account director where she oversees client communication and manages projects from start to finish, ensuring timely and cost-effective delivery. She also actively contributes to brand strategy development, market research, production management, and various roles that support project development at all stages. With her extensive experience in advertising and branding, Ashley has successfully launched campaigns and brands in multiple locations including Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. Her portfolio includes esteemed clients such as Swire Properties, Chow Sang Sang, Bakehouse, American Eagle Outfitters, and Feather & Bone.
Discussant:
- Ling Chung – Founder of Brownie Publishing
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Chung has worked in the publishing industry for many years and is currently the founder and editor-in-chief of brownie publishing and scone publishing in Hong Kong, aiming to promote local photographic art and culture. Apart from editing photobooks, Chung is also a passionate photographer and has organized the “100 Self-Portraits of Hongkongese” photography project in 2015.
- Ming Cheung – Founder & design director, for&st
for&st is an award-winning design studio, established with the moral – “design for story”, believing design is not just pure aesthetic but also to construct the experience. The name for&st extracted from “form & structure” / “forward & stand” / “for & story”, we craft the aesthetic form and also the information hierarchy; to make ideas forward and stand with values that should treasure: to ask whom we are designing for and make the story behind to be heard. The works of for&st have won international recognition, including D&AD awards, New york ADC Awards, Tokyo TDC, golden pin design award, AIGA 50 books 50 covers, design for Asia award, and also serve as the permanent collection at Columbia University of New York.
- Heesun Seo – Lecturer, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University Founder, Studio Hik Art director, ArtAsiaPacific
Heesun Seo holds a BFA in Visual Communication Design from Kookmin University, South Korea, and an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University, USA. She was a grantee of the Fulbright Scholarship while completing the MFA program. She is currently teaching graphic design at the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, and is also the art director of the magazineArtAsiaPacific. She runs a design studio called Studio Hik. Studio Hik is a graphic design studio based in Seoul and in Hong Kong formed in 2014. The studio specialises in exhibition graphic design and design related to art and cultural fields. Recent clients include Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong), M+ (Hong Kong), Seoul Museum of Art (South Korea), Museum of Contemporary Art and Design Manila (Philippines), The Bass Museum of Art (USA) and The Simon Lee Foundation Institute of Contemporary Asian Art – Art Gallery of Western Australia (Australia).