The British Council Alumni Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of alumni and showcase the impact and value of a UK higher education. Award winners and finalists are leaders in their fields who have used their experience of studying at a UK university to make a positive contribution to their communities, professions and countries.
Over 1,200 nominations have been received with 148 alumni shortlisted. This year’s award will see 30 winners at ceremonies held in ten locations across the world.
Congratulations to Ming Chong Tse (MA Image and Communications, 2004) who was the for “Professional Achievement” winner at the Hong Kong British Council Alumni Award ceremony on 16 February 2017 in Hong Kong.
Ming Chong Tse is a Principle Lecturer at Hong Kong Design Institute and a renowned contemporary photography artist. Ming Chong’s artistic pursuit started over 25 years ago with his photograph of Mao Zedong’s portrait taken down from Tiananmen Square.
He has documented Hong Kong ever since – its change of sovereignty, its evolution as a metropolitan city in China and the effects of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ on its inhabitants. His works are held in the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and the Hong Kong Film Archive. In 2014 he released his latest book of photographic work titled “Chronicle”, depicting his sentiment towards Hong Kong in the past quarter of a century.
Ming Chong says that Goldsmiths inspired him in his career development. It gave him ideas on how influential images can affect society, and so encouraged him to devote himself to photography education in Hong Kong.
C.M. Kosemen (Digital Media: Technology and Cultural Form, 2008) has been shortlisted with the winner announced at the Turkey British Council Alumni Award ceremony on 24 February 2017 in Istanbul.
C.M. Kosemen is an artist and independent researcher born in Ankara, Turkey. He studied at Cornell University, Istanbul’s Sabanci University and Goldsmiths. C.M.’s areas of interest include surreal art, Mediterranean history, palaeontology, evolution, zoology and visual culture.
As an artist, C.M. is affiliated with the Empire Project Gallery of Istanbul. His art has been displayed in exhibits in Catania, Vienna, Ulcinj, Istanbul, Ankara and London. As a researcher, C.M.’s book credits include “Osman Hasan and the Tombstone Photographs of the Dönmes”, which won the 2016 Eduard-Duckesz History Prize.
