About Karta Healy
I was born to American Sikh minister parents in 1974. After 10 years of boarding schools in various countries I went straight to London to study at European Business School. As it had all the same mix of kids from all over that I grew up with, I felt immediately at home. I managed to bring my favourite bikes over piece by piece (to avoid the surcharge on the airline). And then my bike got stolen, and the next one, and next one. As it seemed motorbikes might be harder to steal, I got myself a '52 Triton Café Racer. I finished my first degree and did a new subject entirely, Sustainable Design at Central St Martins in London. I put myself up for an apprenticeship to design classic British Motorbike tailoring, cut in modern ski fabrics. Three years of a biker's dream was initiated by none other than Nick Ashley who taught me the dirty art of riding off road, and much much more. Our time in Japan, designing for the 10 shops he had there, gave me experience needed. I ended up commuting to St Martin's on a bike I built up with a rusty tractor seat and a chrome tank, to study industrial design. I found myself bombarded by projects to design cars, as sponsored by car companies. I spent the bulk of my time, urging the staff to get us commissions for more relevant vehicles to our life in a city. In the end, my thesis was an over filled catalog of all the potential companies to approach, with Urban Vehicles on offer. Thus began my official love affair with all things clean and/or quick, in the city. I called it A>>B (www.AgotoB.com). Quickest ways to get yourself from point A to point B in any city. The more I worked on the subject, the more I felt the need to speak up on the absurdity of our congested and polluted cities. I became an advocate of sustainable cities, as I believe the vehicles are a key component of any cities' success or failure. The project now remains vocal through T-shirts through to TV documentaries on the subject. After having exhausted my study of all vehicles clean and quick I settled back on designing the ultimate urban vehicle, the bicycle. My brand O<+>O (www.TWOnFRO.com) focused on outfitting the urban cyclist with all the essentials needed from head to toe and from wheel to wheel. Also www.HeloVelo.com became a new brand for my smaller city bikes. I have also been designing for others and curating shows around my two areas of interest, creative recycling and alternative vehicles.
Karta Healy's posts:
02-Feb 16:56
An inspired use of public space on the waterfront of Hong Kong: the Biennale people asked me to add my bicycle theme to the sprawling venue, which now has bicycle paths and free bike rentals for the three months of the Biennale. A start, as Hong Kong has no bicycle culture yet. The Too Much [...]
27-Jan 11:52
This year is declared as the International Year of Biodiversity, and he United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has proposed a series of activities that will highlight the importance of natural fibres and biodiversity in sustainable development.
Green2Greener, a Hong Kong-based group actively promoting eco-fashion through their shop and events recently hosted the EcoChic [...]
21-Jan 12:09
Kaisei means “Ocean Planet” in Japanese.
Project Kaisei is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco and Hong Kong, established to increase the understanding and the scale of marine debris, its impact on our ocean environment, and how we can introduce solutions for both prevention and clean-up.
Project Kaisei is serving as a catalyst to bring together [...]
19-Dec 12:13
This was another installation from the Biennale, folks. More innovations from the local talent pool. They managed to create a beach within the former police housing compound. A taste of Urban Renaissance thinking. The displays were all addressing that sense of imbalance that comes from living within any city. The humour and message were balanced [...]
18-Dec 08:50
Over the border from HK is Shenzhen, a city that was a fishing village 30 years ago. A by-product of HK’s success story. This city is starting to take on it’s own character and is full of surprises. The Biennale (again! www.szhkbiennale.org) put on an impressive display of local and global talent. The message keeps [...]
17-Dec 12:06
A trip back to Hong Kong to launch my pedal-powered stage for the Biennale. Arrived to learn that our budget is delayed and we shall be doing it properly in January at both HK and SZ venues. The concept is, your friends pedal, you sing, chant, lecture or rant through the electricity made by the [...]
11-Dec 13:59
I was invited along to a charity event and asked to design a range of gear to be auctioned off during the evening. It was the premier of the new documentary Moving to Mars and a fundraiser to bring more awareness to the ongoing situation there. A large number of people donated items such as [...]
10-Dec 14:56
As I have always been a fan of living differently, I accepted an offer I could not refuse. A night in my friend’s Sikorsky helicopter for a weekend on my boat. These are both the epitome of recycling, with both being former Navy issue crafts that served their purpose and survived their duties to become [...]
26-Nov 12:46
My designs and bikes were used in this lovely photo shoot by Macau photographer Joaquim Barreto. The story aims to put across a green idea within a black and white context. I have shortened the story slightly to show my designs. The theme of green is growing roots everywhere, and the medium for the message [...]
30-Oct 10:43
I threw a Halloween Party in the theme of the Victorian era. The purpose was to inaugurate our local Ladies Cycling Club and to celebrate the style and grace of ladies of that era on their bicycles. We made a Victorian photo booth so that the new members could have their pictures taken. The images [...]
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