“For the younger generation, I can only speak for Asia, they now have the spending power. The younger generation is now taking power, either in family businesses or by setting up their own businesses,” she says.
“They are also educating the older generation, their parents, who probably collected san shui [landscape paintings] or ink and antiquities, about how to collect art. This is a phenomenon especially true for Asia, that the younger generation is becoming more dominant, at least when it comes to art collection.”
Noting this trend, Amy Lo, the co-head of wealth management Asia Pacific at UBS, says the bank is adding a second lounge this year at the fair to cater specifically for this demographic.
Art fair director on why ‘you don’t need to be scary’ to be seen as strong
Art fair director on why ‘you don’t need to be scary’ to be seen as strong
“In terms of content, you will find that there is a lot more injected into the show compared to pre-pandemic levels,” says Siyang-Le.
While the guiding principle of the art fair since the beginning was to have 50 per cent of galleries with homes in Asia, this year’s ratio of the gallery roster will be around 53 per cent.
The Encounter sector of the art fair, which showcases large-scale artworks, is to be the strongest yet. Eleven out of the 16 artworks are newly created for Art Basel Hong Kong.
“Haegue Yang’s work talks about how Western culture has been the dominant culture … and how the model is evolving in today’s society,” says Siyang-Le.
“There will be a lot of projects this year on-site talking about our position now, in the Asian contemporary art scene versus the models in the West, and how we are going to proceed in the next decade … the Encounters sector will take a lot of ground space on site.”
The art fair, which will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, is one of many highlights of what is now branded “Art Week”. The satellite Art Central fair, for instance, will return to its harbourfront site for the first time since 2019.
Around 1,000 key figures in the arts and culture industries from around the world will be attending the International Cultural Summit organised by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority on March 25 and 26.
Non-art-related events will take place in Hong Kong around the same time. Some examples include the Global Investors’ Symposium, hosted by economic think tank the Milken Institute, on March 26; and the One Earth Summit, co-organised by Hong Kong’s Institute of Sustainability and Technology, and the World Economic Forum’s Giving to Amplify Earth initiative, on March 25.
Other cities in mainland China are also taking advantage of the international convergence in Hong Kong. A lot of art institutions in Beijing are timing their major events to be around the time of Art Basel Hong Kong, so that it is more convenient for international guests to make a stop in the Chinese capital on their way to and from Hong Kong.
Lo at UBS, the global lead partner of Art Basel, says the concurrence of the many different events during Art Week will help diversify the profiles of visitors to Hong Kong during that period.
Supper Club, an alternative art fair founded by three Hong Kong galleries, will also make its debut. It promises to “break down the paradigms of formality and severity typically associated with art events”. The fair will take place at the Fringe Club – the co-organiser of the event – from March 25-30.
Art Basel Hong Kong will run from March 28 to 30. Preview days for VIPs begin on March 26.