5 Items To Bid On At The Design Trust Charity Auction

William Lim, Michael Lau and Mak Ying Tung 2 are just three of the leading artists and designers who have donated pieces to the Design Trust's fundraiser

Design Trust's annual fundraising gala is taking place in Hong Kong on December 16—and collectors are already eyeing up some of the top lots in the auction.

On the block are pieces by leading artists and designers from around the world, as well as experiences at The Upper House hotel.

All funds raised will go towards Design Trust, a grant-funding platform that supports creative projects in Hong Kong and around the Greater Bay Area. The organisation—which is led by co-founder and executive director Marisa Yiu—does not limit itself to one discipline and works with graphic artists, product designers, architects, urban planners and many more.

See below for a preview of some of the top auction lots. Bids can be made online until 3pm HKT on December 15, 2021 at designtrustgala2021.com.

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Above "Let Yi Be" (2021) by William Lim. (Image: Courtesy of the artist)

"Let Yi Be" (2021) by William Lim

This new oil-on-canvas painting by architect, designer and artist William Lim features Yi Pei Square Playground in Tsuen Wan—the first micro-park that was revitalised through the Design Trust Futures Studio initiative, which sees teams of young designers from Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area work with internationally renowned architects to turn overlooked public spaces into thriving community hubs.

Lim is the managing director of CL3 Architects and has twice represented Hong Kong at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. He is also an artist and a collector—with his wife, Lavina, he has amassed the largest collection of Hong Kong contemporary art in the world, 90 works of which he donated to the city's M+ museum in 2021.

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Above "Collected Memories 003" (2021) by Derry Ainsworth. (Image: Courtesy of the artist)

"Collected Memories 003" (2021) by Derry Ainsworth

This vibrant collage by Hong Kong-based digital artist and photographer Derry Ainsworth features shots he has taken around Hong Kong over the past seven years. The work is being sold as a non-fungible token, better known as an NFT, which are pieces of digital art linked to the blockchain, the digital database underpinning cryptocurrencies. The buyer will receive ownership of the JPG.

Ainsworth's Collected Memories series is the first public art that has been commissioned by Hong Kong's new M+ museum. To usher in the new year, works from the series will be screened on the museum's enormous facade for six hours on December 31, 2021.

This piece has been donated by Ainsworth and the Digital Art Fair, of which Ainsworth is director.

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Above "Home Sweet Home: Arrival 1" (2019) by Mak Ying Tung 2. (Image: Courtesy of the artist and De Sarthe Gallery)

"Home Sweet Home: Arrival 1" (2019) by Mak Ying Tung 2

Mak Ying Tung 2 is one of the rising stars of Hong Kong's art scene, famous for creating dreamlike environments in the computer game The Sims, then commissioning artists she finds on the e-commerce site Taobao to paint these strange scenes. This unusual process explores ideas of copy-cat culture, authorship, and the breakdown between fantasy and reality.

This piece has been donated by Mak and De Sarthe Gallery.

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Above "Egg's Odyssey" (2021) by Elaine Yan Ling Ng for Nature Squared. (Image: Courtesy of Elaine Yan Ling Ng and Nature Squared)

"Egg's Odyssey" (2021) by Elaine Yan Ling Ng for Nature Squared

Elaine Yan Ling Ng is the founder of the Fabrick Lab—a pioneering design studio that works with textiles, electronics, biomimicry and more—and, in 2019, became the chief material innovator at Nature Squared, a brand on a mission to create sustainable materials for architects, designers and consumers.

This lot includes six objects from Nature Squared's Carrelé collection, which features products made from up-cycled eggshells.

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Above "Mini Salvator Michael Figurine" (Full Set) (2018) by Michael Lau

"Mini Salvator Michael Figurine" (Full Set) (2018) by Michael Lau

Dubbed "the Godfather of designer toys", Hong Kong-based Michael Lau was the first artist to produce collectible vinyl figurines, sparking a trend that has influenced the work of major international artists such as Kaws and Takashi Murakami. Lau first became interested in vinyl toys when he was a child in 1970s Hong Kong, when the city was manufacturing and exporting toys to all corners of the world.

These figurines were released to celebrate his Collect them All! exhibition in 2018. It is rare for a full set to be offered for sale—these have been donated by Lau himself.

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