The Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE) Award is a business start-up competition established in 2014 with the generous funding of Mr Brandon T.C. Liu. The award aims at encouraging students and recent graduates of the Academy of Visual Arts (AVA) to develop their creative ideas into executable plans and self-sustainable innovative businesses.

This year we will invite creative entrepreneurs to share their experiences on brainstorming innovative concepts, and how to make it a self-sustainable business. Don’t miss it if you’re interested in setting up a creative business yourself. 

Max Cheng 鄭志堅 (AVA Alumni, Founder of Okapi Studio)

Max Cheng is a Visual Art graduate of the Hong Kong Baptist University. He creates art with the sense of smell, mostly using installation and mixed media as the medium. Cheng emphasizes on the value of object itself and uncovers creativities in daily life. He established okapi studio (https://www.okapistudio.org/) after graduation and collaborates with charities and different organisations to produce scent products, hold incense-making workshops, and organise local farm docent tours and exhibitions; through various activities, Max aims to promote the many faces of “incense culture” and the idea of “closing the loop” by making incense from natural ingredients and utilising incense ash as fertiliser.