BLACK
Jackson Tan is a Singaporean artist, designer and curator. He is the Creative Director of BLACK, a multi-disciplinary creative agencyand founding partner of PHUNK, a contemporary art collective.
Notable projects include the brand identity design of SG50, to celebrate Singapore’s golden jubilee, the Peranakan Museum
and CREATIVE©ITIES, an exhibition that maps the creativity of Asia-Pacific. PHUNK’s artworks are featured in numerous collections and exhibitions, including Singapore Art Museum, MOCA Taipei, Venice Biennale and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.
He was awarded ‘Designer of the Year’ in 2007 by the President’s Design Award, the highest accolade for designers in Singapore.
Asylum
Chris Lee is the Founder and Creative Director of Asylum, one of the most respected creative companies in Asia.
Since its inception in 1999, the creative company has focused on cross disciplinary projects that include interactive design, product development, environmental & interior design, packaging, apparel design, branding and graphic design.
Asylum’s work in the creative industry is recognized with more than 100 international awards. Chris is the recipient for the Designer of the Year (2009) and Design of the Year (2010) in Singapore’s President Design Award. He has served as a juror for many of the top international creative awards such as D&AD, Red Dot, The One Show and Tokyo Type Directors Club.
Ministry of Design (MOD)
Architecturally trained in the US and licensed in Singapore, Colin Seah honed his sensibilities working for the likes of Rem Koolhaas and Daniel Libeskind. He also spent 4 years at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Architecture researching design pedagogy and serving as design critic.
As MOD’s Founder and Director of Design, Colin has been named Designer of the Year by International Design Awards USA 2010,
and is a two-time recipient of Singapore’s highest design accolade,
the President’s Design Award. Recognized as “Rising Star in Architecture” by Monocle, Colin Seah has been invited by the Singapore Tourism Board to redefine Singapore as a destination
for 2020 and beyond.
Takenouchi Weeb
British architect Marc Webb and Japanese interior designer Naoko Takenouchi began their practice together after working in Singapore for several years.
Takenouchi Webb is an integrated design firm that develops architectural and interior environments specialising in restaurant, hotel and bar projects. The studio believes in a holistic approach to design, developing the architecture, interior and furniture for
each project. The design approach of Takenouchi Webb is a carefully considered combination of materials, detailing and precision combined with practical problem solving unique to each project.
WOHA
Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell are the Co-founding Directors of WOHA, a Singapore-based internationally-acclaimed architectural practice.
Mun Summ is currently a Professor in Practice at his alma mater, the National University of Singapore. He has mentored students under NUS’s Embedded Studio in Practice programme and anchored the University’s MSc in Integrated Sustainable Design Masterclass since 2011.
Richard graduated from the University of Western Australia and was awarded a Master of Architecture degree from RMIT University, Melbourne, in 2002. He has lectured at universities around the world, and served as Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, and the University of Western Australia.
In conjunction with WOHA’s installation at the 2016 Venice Biennale, WOHA will launch a new book, titled “Garden City Mega City”, which shares strategies for the burgeoning mega cities of the tropical belt. In 2016, WOHA conducted a Design Studio at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.
Agent Hamyak Ink.
After 8 years of working in London as head of the creative management team in Dutch Uncle Agency, Mikiharu returned to Tokyo in 2013 where he founded and currently runs Agent Hamyak, a creative artist management agency.
His work entails being a project manager bridging creatives from across the globe for various international projects. Together with Jackson Tan of BLACK, he has taken on the role as the City Curator for Japan in the CREATIVEⒸITIES exhibition held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2013 amongst other global projects.
In 2015, Mikiharu co-started a 'designers-in-residence' project, "DOOR to ASIA", that establishes collaborations between regional businesses and Asian creatives to produce communication design that opens the 'Door to Asia' for their businesses.
Culture Generation Japan Co., Ltd
Takuya Hotta is the Founder and CEO of Culture Generation Japan Co., Ltd. He has obtained an MBA in Corporate Finance from the International University of Monaco in 2006.
Culture Generation Japan provides business consulting for manufacturing companies aiming to expand their businesses to the global market. The company assists their clients in various phases including funding, business development and brand development.