G.O.D. Street Culture Museum

On Christmas Day 1953, a fire swept across the shanty hillside village of Shek Kip Mei. Overnight, 53,000 people lost their homes.  Within two years, the displaced people were re-housed and Shek Kip Mei was transformed into Hong Kong’s first mass housing scheme.  By 2007, most of these buildings were demolished to make way for new housing. The factory complex that houses the G.O.D. Street Culture Museum is one of the few preserved buildings remaining.

The name “Shek Kip Mei” sounds as curious in Cantonese as it does in English. For the name of the museum, we substituted the word “Mei” meaning “end” for “Hei”, an archaic slang word, which can be loosely translated to mean “messing around”. Our intention is to create a congenial atmosphere for anyone who may be interested in Hong Kong culture. They are welcome to use the venue as a place of relaxation, discussion and reading.

To many, the concept of Hong Kong culture is still a mystery. Many details require research and academic study. This is in stark contrast with other advanced cultures whose every detail has been thoroughly documented. The fact that we lack a common understanding of our culture is one of the reasons why so few local designers draw inspiration from our native culture. This collection of paraphernalia represents our definition of Hong Kong culture. In the commercial world, very few designers are able to enjoy the luxury of conducting their own research, resorting to books, magazines or on-line data. Such information is predominately of the western and international variety, there is seldom any Hong Kong material. With this collective resource at G.O.D. Street Culture Museum, we hope to inspire other designers.

 The items in this museum represent Hong Kong’s street culture. Many items are salvaged. They exist in the twilight zone of junk and antique. They are not old enough to be true antiques but are not new enough to satisfy today’s functional requirements. They were discarded because they have outlived their purpose. Amassed our over a period of twenty years, this collection has inspired many of our designs. By placing G.O.D. products side by side with the originals, visitors are able to trace the design and development of our products.

 At G.O.D., we do not believe in replicating the original. We extract its essence and give it a twist. We believe that this treatment of updating the old to create a new fusion is the key to maintaining cultural continuum. It is not our intention to replicate the past. Mere nostalgia is not sustainable. We want to preserve heritage and believe the best way to do this is by giving it new functions.

Appropriately, the building that houses this collection, the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC),is a former factory building and an excellent illustration of this transformation.

G.O.D. Street Culture Museum 

Address:
L2-06 JCCAC
30 Pak Tin Street
Shek Kip Mei

Opening Hours:
By appointment only

Enquiries:

Tel: 2542 8550
Email: info@god.com.hk

For all group visits, please contact us one business day in advance.