Art Basel Hong Kong opens with as much smart as bad news. The lifting of all Covid restrictions last year revived the occasion and attracted 242 exhibitors, 65 more than in 2023. Of these, 23 are new to the exhibition, while 69 are returning after a four-year hiatus, making signaling a renewed confidence in Hong Kong’s position as the center of Asia’s art market.
On the other hand, China’s economy is facing a prolonged slowdown, while its asset sector, hit by developer defaults, continues to suffer. In particular, the systemic threat has had an effect on the mood around luxury spending, depending on the effects. of companies such as LVMH and Kering heading into 2023. The art market has not been immune, with disappointing auctions, adding works submitted by Long Museum founder Liu. Yiqian and Wang Wei, although last year auctions in Hong Kong proved more resilient than those in New York and London, according to ArtTactic.
Dealers returning to the Hong Kong fair see plenty of opportunities. “We last participated in the fair in 2019 and we are back because it is the most productive way to maintain strong ties with Asia,” says José Kuri, co-founder of Kurimanzutto gallery. in Mexico City and New York, which features a solo booth by Colombian artist Oscar. Murillo. Kuri and others point to one major difference between Hong Kong in 2019 and 2024: the opening in 2021 of its sprawling M Museum in ambitious West Kowloon. Cultural District, which has been a game-changer for the cool and trendy artistic landmarks and market dynamics of the city.
Lorraine Kiang, co-founder of the expanded gallery Kiang Malingue in Hong Kong, feels the renewal of her city. “Galleries that have taken a break and tried to visit other cities in Asia have learned how difficult it is to replace [Hong Kong],” he said. “The economy is rarely booming like it was a few years ago, but there’s also something more substantial. Possibly there would be fewer impulse buys and creditors would be more sophisticated. His gallery features a combined booth of his artists at the fair, adding works by Chou Yu-Cheng and Liu Yin.
Ed Tang, co-director of consultancy Art-Bureau in Hong Kong, New York and London, agrees. “People [in Hong Kong] don’t see buying art as a speed game anymore, they know it takes time,” he says. He started his business during the pandemic, so it’s all relative, but he’s in hiring mode and recently hired auction expert Edouard Benveniste as a partner, with Hong Kong appointments on the horizon.
The revival of Hong Kong’s art market goes beyond Art Basel, says director Angelle Siyang-Le. Auction houses, whose executives know where the biggest deals are made, are popping up in droves with new buildings designed by architects. Last year, Phillips opened a sleek zone designed through Herzog
In the meantime, there’s a lot of talk about the new Hauser Gallery.
Politically, things remain uncomfortable. Concerns about China’s legal surveillance of Hong Kong, which was the subject of intense pro-democracy protests in 2019, have been stoked following this month’s expanded and fast-tracked security bill, which imposes new consequences for treason and insurrection and came into force on March 23.
Uncertainty is nothing new for Hong Kongers, Siyang-Le said ahead of the latest legislation. She grew up between mainland China and the UK, then moved to Hong Kong in 2012. It takes note of the prevailing view that Hong Kong, a British colony during occupied for more than 150 years through Japan during World War II, was returned to China in 1997. And with a gigantic expat community, “he’s gone through an identity crisis. “
Political tensions can give rise to wonderful art. Some of Siyang-Le’s highlights in this year’s exhibit include “Friendship First, Competition After” (2024), a giant ping-pong ball split into two halves. Through archival videos, the paintings travel through the so-called “ping-pong”. “Pong diplomacy” between China and the United States, which emerged through the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships (Ota Fine Arts, Singapore). Other paintings, through Haegue Yang, transform the divergent eras of today’s bureaucracy into a huge hybrid bureaucracy of shiny rattan weave with performative handles and mysterious protrusions (Kukje Gallery and Kurimanzutto).
Recommended
The challenge is compounded by the broader economic and socio-political environment, in which galleries around the world struggle to thrive. Goodman Gallery owner Liza Essers is among the few people who may not return to the Hong Kong fair this year. He says he’s taking a general break from the demanding financial and physical schedule of the art market to focus on running his business. “It’s been a tough time for galleries and I haven’t had the opportunity to go back to Asia after Covid. It’s a vital position for us, we just want to regroup and design our most productive strategy there,” says Essers.
Even the luxury industry rarely helps this bearish sentiment much: Last month, Christian Dior Homme postponed a highly anticipated fair, which was due to take place just before Hong Kong’s Art Basel fair, without giving an official reason.
For veteran Hong Kong gallerist Pearl Lam, who has a combined booth at the show, the past few years have been “a wake-up call. “Following the lockdowns, “the Hong Kong government is working harder to rebuild the city. “as a foreign hub, with family conventions in the workplace, etc. “she says. ” Beyond the city now stretches the “Greater Bay Area,” encompassing Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland municipalities; this year, Art Basel presented its convention program in Guangzhou. ” “Obviously there are genuine considerations in terms of economics,” says Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, “but let’s not get ahead of ourselves when it comes to China. “
Art Basel Hong Kong will be held from March 28 to 30, artbasel. com