Offy Leung
Profession
MA Culture, Criticism and Curation Alum
College
Central Saint Martins
Person Type
Alumni
Biography
Offy is a curator and writer based in London and Hong Kong. Her practice examines the intersections of rhythmicity, space, and identity through a phenomenological lens. It spans exhibitions, performances, and public programmes, and she also works as a lyricist.
She graduated from MA Culture, Criticism, and Curation (MA CCC) at Central Saint Martins in 2024.
Why did you choose to study MA Culture, Criticism and Curation at Central Saint Martins?
In my years as an arts practitioner, I reached a point where I needed more than instinct or personal aesthetics to guide my creative decisions. It became important to ask: What artistic choices am I making? Why am I making them?
MA Culture, Criticism and Curation at CSM stood out for its emphasis on research, interdisciplinarity, and critical thinking. The course allowed me to situate curatorial practice in broader cultural and intellectual frameworks, responding to historical and contemporary subjects.
What have you been working on since graduating?
I currently serve as a public programme curator for a London-based film festival supported by the British Film Institute (BFI), where I explore East and Southeast Asian transitioning identities in diasporic contexts. Navigating ESEA digital cultures and community building in the neoliberal era, I was invited to a conference presented at SXSW London.
In 2025, my exhibition research was shortlisted by Fondazione Prada, where I examined material storytelling and eclectic architecture, focusing on textiles of memories and identities in a restored 1918 historic house. In the same year, I curated a programme on Sashiko embroidery at the Robinson Art Festival, University of Cambridge.
Alongside public programming, through writing and concert projects with institutions in Hong Kong and Switzerland, I continue to pursue my practice in rhythmicity, space, and identity.
What was the most interesting project you worked on during your time on the course?
One of the most rewarding projects was working with the Les Coleman Collection at the UAL Archives and Special Collections Centre. This rare and significant archive of North American underground (1968–1980) and alternative (1980–present) comic book movements encompassed works of art, illustration, and literature, with themes ranging from humour and taboo to religion, politics, gender, and beyond.
Our project culminated in a short film, a research dossier, and a digital platform that interpreted and responded to these materials. Working with archival objects revealed how comics, often dismissed as light or subcultural, can embody humour, transgression, and resistance in their socio-cultural context. It was a valuable experience in exploring how we interpret, activate, and curate archives, reframing them to speak to cultural implications.
What important piece of advice would you give to students thinking of studying this course?
Enjoy risks. This course gives you the freedom to experiment, supported by tutors who value curiosity and bold ideas — pushing boundaries and opening up new knowledge. Allow yourself to make mistakes — they are often the most generative part of the process.
Your genuine curiosity, creativity, with those moments of trial and error, will lead to unexpected perspectives that shape and define your curatorial journey.
What was the highlight of your Central Saint Martins experience?
Definitely the dialogues with everyone in the cohort. Whether in seminars, discussions, or casual chats after lectures, our conversations were invaluable, as we learned alongside peers from diverse cultures and disciplines — you could always discover new perspectives from your fellows.
What is the most important thing you learned on the course?
Keep practising. The course taught me that curatorial practice is not a fixed outcome, but a living process — shaped by research, experiments, and dialogues.