Thank you to everyone who joined us on March's edition LOCAL!

Jose shared his journey as a Hong Kong-born Filipino navigating identity through street dance. Growing up speaking English at home and school, he faced a cultural gap in community college where Cantonese dominated. Discovering street dance in Form 5 opened doors to Hong Kong's local culture, though language barriers and lacking connections initially made battles intimidating. As he immersed himself in the scene, Jose found his place—competing internationally at Juste Debout, performing on ViuTV and at Mirror concerts, and connecting with dancers worldwide.

View photos here

Thank you to everyone who joined us on February's edition  کورسو (KOORSOO)!

Award-winning artist Yana Fortep Yakimova shares how she walked away from global stages to find healing through art, yoga, and embracing every part of herself.

View photos here!

Where to start when looking back at such an amazing year?

What about the first speaker of the year, Vivek Mahbubani. His childhood journey made him a keen observer of the city and weaving all these stories into his comedy shows.

He was followed up by Ruby Cheng who shared her amazing journey as iron man athlete and now coach.

In March we got to know Benny Cullen who shared a story or persistence and an important bell.

Then we witnessed a hilarious story of shenanigans and human sized cockroaches by Rachel Smith.

During May’s REVIVAL, Alison Chan brought us on her journey of transforming her home baking hobby into Dear Harley, a luxury cake brand that thrived during COVID-19.

When the theme PUNK came around, it was time for the godmother of the underground music scene Chris B to share her stories and anecdotes of running Hong Kong's biggest live music community.

Then we went academic with PhD Liane Slaughter who was inspired by her own academic mentors to become one herself.

When it was time to introduce the duo Alexandra Batten and Daniel Kamp we quickly were taken on an emotional rollercoaster uncovering what it means to be home.

In September we welcomed Vriko Kwok, an unlikely athlete with an incredible passion and persistence, sharing her incredible story of finishing an impossible challenge.

For the theme SOFT, we wanted to talk about soft power and invited the Consul General of Belgium and that turned out to be a hit with funny anecdotes and more insights about Belgium.

Our last solo speaker of the year was the tireless barrister and NGO multi entrepreneur Archana Kotecha sharing heart wrenching stories with a special message to it.

For the final CreativeMornings of 2025, we decided to do things different. The theme was innovation so we innovated a little bit ourself and organised a panel discussion with 2 authors in the field of innovation: Garkay Wong and Gianluca Cinquepalmi who were led by moderator Kate Okrasinski. It turned into an interactive and inspiring talk that kept the audience captivated from the beginning to the end.

If you get excited about the talks and want to watch (back) these amazing talks, go straight to our website.

I am grateful for the speakers who poured their love and energy into their talks and for all the volunteers and sponsors & partners who keep CMHK going. And most of all, I am grateful for having so many great people part of our amazing community.

Have an amazing 2026 and I hope to see you at our events!

- Mark Swinkels, Host Creative Mornings

Block your calendar!

The dates for CreativeMornings in 2026 are announced:

January 30 - Soho House

February 27 - Blueprint

March 27 - Soho House

April 24 - Blueprint

May 29 - Soho House

June 26 - Blueprint

July 31 - Soho House

August 28 - Blueprint

September 18 - Soho House

October 30 - Blueprint

November 27 - Soho House

December 18 - Blueprint

We hope to see you all in 2026 to connect, collaborate and inspire!

Thank you to everyone who came to our panel discussion for December's edition INNOVATION!

Innovation is risky and rebellious—breaking routines, reimagining the familiar, and treating uncertainty as opportunity rather than obstacle.

Moderator
Kate Okrasinski, Director of Customer Experience at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

Panelists
Garkay Wong, author of "The Art of Design Strategy," who explores how design navigates organizational change

Gianluca Cinqueplami, a global innovation advisor with two decades of experience helping leaders evolve from control-focused managers to creativity-driven innovators

This panel revealed how creativity meets strategy, where collaboration drives change, and why innovation requires only curiosity and the willingness to try again.

Check out the photos and spot yourself!

Thank you to everyone who came to our November's edition GROWTH with Archana Kotecha!

Archana Kotecha is a UK-qualified barrister and a leading voice in business and human rights. With over 15 years of experience advising the UN, governments, businesses, and civil society across Asia, she specialises in tackling forced labour, human trafficking, and responsible business conduct. As Founder of The Remedy Project and ReAct Asia, she develops practical, rights-holder–centred solutions that help companies translate human rights principles into everyday practice—ensuring that dignity, accountability, and fairness are built into the way business gets done.

Check out the photos and spot yourself!

Thank you to everyone who came to our October's edition SOFT with David Lomastro!

David Lomastro joined the Belgian diplomatic service in 2008. He has served as Consul General of Belgium in Hong Kong and Macau since August 2022. For the past three years, he and his team have been organising the “Belgian Days” in Hong Kong and Macao, a ten-day festival that brings together artists, gastronomy specialists and decision-makers from Belgium and Hong Kong to offer the Hong Kong public a wide range of activities related to culture, lifestyle and exchanges on current themes such as artificial intelligence or sustainability. www.belgiandays.hk

He was previously working at the Directorate for the External Relations of the European Union at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He spent four years in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and four years in Athens, Greece. His previous duties included work in the area of migration, security and justice. Mr. Lomastro is married and the father of four.

Check out the photos and spot yourself!

Thank you to everyone who showed up on September's edition BLOSSOM!

Vriko Kwok is a wellness entrepreneur, athlete, and co-founder of Herbs’Oil Hawaii and Nourwish. A lululemon Global Ambassador and two-time TEDx speaker, she has shared her story with Meta, Shopify, HSBC, and the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, while mentoring female-led startups in Hong Kong. In 2025, Nourwish was named one of Standard Chartered Venture’s Top 10 Female-Led Businesses in Hong Kong. An athlete since 2017, she earned a bronze medal in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the Asian Championship and ran 303 km in lululemon’s FURTHER ultramarathon. Vriko champions growth, empowerment, and redefining strength and femininity across cultures.

Check out all the pictures and spot yourself!

Thank you to everyone who showed up on August’s edition NOMAD!

Art duo Batten and Kamp looked back on the past two years of their lives, living between Hong Kong, Paris and New Zealand. They reflect edon how an impermanent state has affected the art they produce, their practice, their relationship and their sense of home.

Check out all the pictures and spot yourself!

Thank you to everyone who came to our last CreativeMornings!

Liane shared an insider look at the colorful characters in academia through her journey of climbing the academic ladder as a Ph.D. chemist across three continents, then making the bold decision to jump off and forge her own path as a freelance tutor, science writer, and career coach. Every step was shaped by mentors, sometimes too much, and when she became a mentor herself, mimicking previous mentors failed spectacularly. Through hard-won lessons from her career pivot and her work with Conscious Dance Hong Kong, Liane revealed a crucial insight: mentors are invaluable guides, but they should never drown out your own voice.

View the photos here

Thank you to everyone who came to our last CreativeMornings!

From accidental beginnings to purposeful impact, Chris B - dubbed “the tattooed fairy godmother of the Hong Kong scene” by Time Magazine - shared her remarkable journey of founding The Underground HK and Musicians Foundation. With over 500 events under her belt and two decades of championing local talent, Chris opened up about her recent revelation about intention and its power to shape the music community.

View the photos here