The Mills is opening for a sneak peak and a special textile village

Following the long-awaited opening of Tai Kwun in May, Hongkongers can now look forward to another exciting repurposed cultural landmark as The Mills prepares to officially open its doors in December.

In anticipation of the unveiling, The Centre for Heritage, Arts & Textiles is launching a special 23-day programme, starting from July 28, that will transform the heritage site into a massive textile village. This will see The Mills housing 10 groups of local textile and craft creators, all offering a diverse range of textile-themed activities. Turner Prize-winning UK architect collective Assemble has been enlisted to construct five creative village lodges and hubs where daily creative workshops on everything from spinning to weaving and dyeing are being held. Prominent Japanese artist Taguchi Yukihiro is lending a hand with a community art project that’s seeing him collaborate with Ng Kwong-nam, a local fire dragon dance master, to create a 35m weaving dragon. Visitors can also contribute and weave parts of this dragon as well.

Aside from all the exciting hands-on activities, there are tons of artist talks and sharing sessions to take part in. It’s a great opportunity to get a look at the newly revamped Nan Fung Textiles factory mills before it officially opens and to pick up some handy crafting skills to impress your friends or potentially launch your Etsy venture.