HONG KONG.- CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile) today announced the appointment of its current Co-Director Takahashi Mizuki to the post of Executive Director and Chief Curator, and the resignation of Co-Director Teoh Chin Chin, effective from the end of March 2020.

Founder of The Mills Vanessa Cheung expressed, ‘We are very pleased to announce Takahashi Mizuki as CHAT’s Executive Director and Chief Curator. Both Mizuki and Chin Chin have led CHAT into a successful first year since it opened in March 2019. In this next phase, Mizuki, supported by new and existing members of CHAT team, will continue to lead the organization to deliver high-quality exhibitions and co-learning programmes for visitors, further expanding the spirit of innovation associated with Hong Kong’s textile industry. At the same time, it is with gratitude that we bid farewell to Chin Chin, whose contributions and dedication to CHAT during her tenure are very much appreciated. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.’

Takahashi Mizuki said, ‘It was such a pleasure to have explored a new kind of art and cultural institution in Hong Kong (as in CHAT), and have achieved a successful inaugural year with Chin Chin. We strongly believe that there are many things we can learn from the legacy of the textile industry in the city, and that CHAT can offer fresh perspectives to connect the past and present, bridging heritage with contemporary art and design, and empowering the people to build a better future.’

On her part, Teoh Chin Chin expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Vanessa Cheung, Takahashi Mizuki, as well as all her colleagues in CHAT for their trust and support over the years. ‘CHAT will always hold a special place in my heart and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to work with such a spectacular team in the past three and a half years. I am confident that CHAT will go on to achieve even greater heights and achievements in the future under the current leadership,’ she said.

Takahashi Mizuki completed her MA in the History of Art from Waseda University, Tokyo and The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

After serving as a founding curatorial member at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo from 1999-2003, Takahashi worked as senior curator at the Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito, where she realised numerous transdisciplinary exhibitions that brought together manga, film, fashion, architecture, performance art and contemporary art.

Her curated exhibitions in and outside Japan have included Eight Days: Beuys in Japan (2009); Quiet Attentions: Departure from Women (2011); You reach out – right now – for something: Questioning the Concept of Fashion (2013); TECHSTYLE Series 1.0 - Ariadne’s Thread (2016); Line of Times (2017); (In)tangible Reminiscence (2018); Unfolding: Fabric of Our Life (2019); N S Harsha: Gathering Delights (2019) and Sudo Reiko: Making NUNO Textiles (2019). Takahashi was a research fellow at Central Saint Martins, The University of the Arts London from 2015 to 2016, and writes and lectures extensively in Asia and Europe.