Talk
The stories behind art book publishers

A dialogue between Germany and Hong Kong

Fri, 09.06.2023
7:00 PM - 20:30 Goethe-Institut Hongkong Library

What is an art book? Is it simply an expensive, extravagant coffee table book? Is it a printed exhibition catalogue that one can buy at galleries? Are there more to explore behind each exquisitely printed art book? For example, what is it like to work in an art book publishing house? How do you work with the most creative minds from different art fields? What is the division of labor between editorial, production and sales & marketing like? What are the challenges lying all along the road and ahead?

On 9th June, we are happy to have Frankie Ho, the retail director of TASCHEN, a leading art-book publisher from Germany, and Mary Chan, the founder of MCCM Creations, an art-book publisher in Hong Kong, to share their perspective and insight after working in the field for more than twenty years.

Register here

Frankie Ho

About Frankie Ho:

Frankie Ho graduated from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University majoring at Fashion Retailing. Formerly he served for various cultural organizations including Espace Louis Vuitton Hong Kong, SCAD Hong Kong, Fondation Louis Vuitton Peking and K11 Art Foundation with extensive experience in commercial arts and cultural management in the region. He receives Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Industries Management at HKU Space. Currently Ho works as Retail Director Asia for leading art-book publisher TASCHEN.


About Mary Chan: 

Mary Chan (Lai Shan) founded MCCM Creations (www.mccmcreations.org), an independent Hong Kong publishing house, in January 2001. Published titles, mostly bilingual, have strong visual and cultural slant. Broadly, falls into two genres: first, visual art, design and urban culture related to architecture, visual and performing art in Hong Kong and neighbouring cities, to reflect socio-cultural profile of a place and to inspire out-of-the-box thinking; second, illustrated fiction and picture books for children and young adults with the purpose of nurturing intellectual and aesthetic development in addition to their regular school syllabus. Chan also ran thebookshop (2009-2014) at Hong Kong Arts Center; and the museum bookshop (2019-2022) at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Prior to book publishing, her professional background spans across magazine publishing, arts administration, marketing, advertising and management in Hong Kong and the Mainland.