Hong Kong Baptist University
NTU and HKBU students collaborate in a cross-cultural art collective exploring identity, place, and intersectional experiences through shared creativity.
Meet Me in the Middle: A Transnational Illustration Collaboration
What does it mean to live a good life? This was the question at the heart of , a cross-cultural pilot project connecting Level 5 Illustration students from Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé (NTU) and Year 3 and 4 students at the Academy of Visual Arts, .
Led by Vivien Chan, Lecturer at the Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé School of Art & Design and Professor Pat Wong from HKBU, the initiative brought together seven students from NTU and six students from HKBU, who worked in pairs over the course of a year to explore what it means to live well while living 6,000 miles apart.
Through regular online meetings, creative exchange, and shared visual storytelling, the students navigated differences in time zones, cultures, and communication styles to co-create thoughtful, imaginative responses to the central question. Their works offer insight into how young artists can meaningfully collaborate in a globally connected world.
The student-led projects included:
- Letters From Where I Am / †¢ÐÅ°² – A postcard series exchanging personal reflections on place, belonging and distance
- Day by Day / Ò»Ììß^Ò»Ìì – A calendar capturing daily life, revealing similarities and contrasts in routine
- Something Similar / ËÆÔøÏàËÆ – Accordion booklets pairing imagery and concepts across cultures
- Culinary Crossroads: Illustrating Our Overlapping Appetites – Illustrated cookbooks exploring shared appetites and food memories
- Always Keep Your Childlike Innocence Alive – A collage work inspired by nostalgia, imagination and playful thinking
- Crossing£¡/ ß^ñR· – An animated piece capturing the sensation of movement and the experience of navigating different environments
Each project was fully co-owned and co-produced by the student partners. The collaboration culminated in a public exhibition in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Central Library, alongside the publication of a magazine and a showcasing their collective outcomes.
For many participants, Meet Me in the Middle was more than just an academic project. Dana Ilinca, an illustration student from NTU, shared how the initiative deepened her understanding of cross-cultural collaboration and creative practice:
"Working on this project has been incredibly fun. It was an insightful experience that led me feeling more prepared for the future. I had the unique opportunity to work with someone I had never met before, from a different continent, with a completely different worldview. We not only learned a lot about each other's lives and cultures, but also about communication and time management. The experience is similar to what I imagine outside-of-university remote jobs are like."
From the other side of the globe, HKBU student Kitson Wong shared a complementary perspective:
"Collaborating with students at NTU has been an amazing journey that really opened my eyes. I found this project not only fun but also a great way to dive into the differences and similarities between our communities in Hong Kong and the UK. From the start, we focused on research and observing our local communities. I realized that illustration isn’t just about creating pretty visuals; it can also be a powerful way to communicate and tell stories.”
Positive student testimonials gathered showed that this pilot project has not only deepened our students’ understanding of creative collaboration across borders, it has also sparked new perspectives on identity, belonging and the value of curiosity and dialogue in art and design.
Find out more about the project on the .
While planning and setting up the exhibition, I gained first-hand experience in managing a budget and navigating the many challenges that come with overseeing a large project. I also developed many technical skills, especially in the various steps involved in hand-making a book.
Dana Ilinca, BA (Hons) Illustration student from Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé