The seventh edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong closed on Sunday 31 March 2019, with reports of strong sales across all regions and market levels. The fair, organised with lead partner UBS, attracted a record 88,000 visitors over the event’s five days, an increase from last year’s 80,000. Collectors hailed from over 70 countries and territories, notably from Hong Kong, Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. Alongside private collectors, representatives from over 130 leading international museums and institutions attended the show, including Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales, Hong Kong’s M+, Tokyo’s National Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum, London’s Royal Academy of Arts and Tate, New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Beijing’s Ullens Center for Contemporary Art and the Vancouver Art Gallery, among many others. Adeline Ooi, Director Asia, Art Basel, commented as quoted in the closing press release:
Art Basel Hong Kong is a truly global platform in Asia for galleries and their artists. The show creates a bridge between Asia and the West, as evident in the impressive line-up of galleries from Europe and the United States. Moreover, I was struck by the focused engagement of our Asian galleries, who through their programs offered compelling insights into the region’s rich histories. With presentations by influential figures from across many local art scenes, this show provides a unique opportunity for many discoveries.
The 2019 edition featured 242 premier galleries from 35 countries and territories, with 21 galleries participating in the show for the first time, including nine in the main Galleries sector that have been pivotal in defining the art scene in Europe and the United States, such as Galerie Greta Meert from Belgium; Galerie Bärbel Grässlin and Galerie Max Hetzler from Germany; Luhring Augustine, Paula Cooper Gallery and Andrew Kreps Gallery from the United States; and Richard Nagy Ltd. from the United Kingdom, among others. Richard Nagy was reported as commenting about the Hong Kong fair:
I have been amazed by how intently people look at the works by Egon Schiele in our booth, and how they discuss the works for a considerable amount of time. This is not something I have seen before at art fairs in Europe or the United States. It’s so refreshing to see people who are excited to have the opportunity to see something special. There are also many young people who are so intent on wanting to learn, which is really great. It’s a revelation
Five galleries from Asia-Pacific this year graduated into the main sector, reinforcing the fair’s commitment to the strengthening of the region’s art scene. These galleries were Beijing Art Now Gallery, Galerie du Monde from Hong Kong, Gow Langsford Gallery from Auckland, ROH Projects from Jakarta and Tang Contemporary Art from Beijing, Hong Kong and Bangkok. The fair also saw eight new galleries from Asia joining the fair, including Watanuki Ltd. / Toki-no- Wasuremono from Tokyo; Beyond Gallery from Taipei; Empty Gallery from Hong Kong; Hunsand Space, Pifo Gallery, and Tabula Rasa Gallery from Beijing, among others. Richard Koh, Founder of first time participant Richard Koh Fine Art with space in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore, was reported as saying:
This is our first time participating in an Art Basel show, and we are thrilled to have met new clients and sold all the works by Thai artist Natee Utarit.
Sutima Sucharitakul, Founder and Director of Nova Contemporary from Bangkok, who also participated for the first time in 2019, commented on how the fair proved very successful for them:
… we presented works by Burmese artist Moe Satt, and are delighted by the wonderful response from institutions and collectors. We are a young gallery, and Art Basel is a great platform for us to introduce Southeast Asian artists to an international audience.
Returning galleries and veterans of Art Basel in Hong Kong also reported a successful edition, with sales to institutions, as well as collectors old and new. Stephanie Fong, Founder and Director of Singapore-based FOST Gallery commented:
We have had an amazing response to Phi Phi Oanh’s Vietnamese lacquer paintings. It was our first time presenting her work in Hong Kong, and we are so pleased that they resonated so well with such a diverse crowd. All but one of the works were sold to collectors new to us.
Lisson Gallery reported strong sales and interest in many of their artists, both Asian and Western. Alex Logsdail, International Director of the gallery, revealed:
We have seen a change in direction of the art market recently, increasingly being pulled eastward. A number of American collectors we know opted to take the long flight to Hong Kong this year, many for the first time, prioritizing Hong Kong over other western fairs. We met lots of new collectors and sold significant pieces to local institutions.
Pearl Lam, the owner of Pearl Lam Galleries, a long-time participant to the fair’s worldwide editions, also mentioned collectors and visitors from around the world and emphasised the role of the fair in the growth of the Hong Kong art scene, saying that “The market here continues to thrive, and the city’s increasingly globalized landscape allows us to promote cross-cultural exchange in very meaningful ways.”
Chao Li, Director of Eslite Gallery from Taipei, presented a solo exhibition of Liu Xiaodong, one of the highlights of the 2019 Galleries sector. The gallery sold 22 works on paper, and Chao Li commented it was “a pleasant surprise for us. We met collectors from a wider geographical spread this year; buyers were from Europe, the United States, China, Hong Kong, and many other parts of the world.”
Among this year’s highlights in the Insights sector, spotlighting shows by one or two artists from Asia, were Asia Art Center’s presentation of an imagined artist studio by Chinese- born artist Cheong Soo Pieng, who later moved to Singapore and became one of the founding fathers of contemporary Singaporean art, and New Delhi’s Gallery Espace showcasing the last three decades of work by Zarina Hashmi.
From the Discoveries, focused on solo shows by emerging artists, three artists were shortlisted for the Art Basel BMW Art Journey 2019, including Lu Yang at Société, Shen Xin at Madeln Gallery, and Clarissa Tossin at Commonwealth and Council. The winner will be announced in early summer 2019. In the Kabinett sector, presenting 21 curated shows, highlights included Pacita Abad at Silverlens, Wang Pan-Youn at Tina Keng Gallery, and Yoo Youngkuk at Kukje Gallery, as well as New works by Korean artist Lee Bul at Lehmann Maupin.
The Film sector returned for its sixth edition, traditionally curated by multimedia artist and film producer Li Zhenhua, bringing together 27 film and video works inspired by the current sociopolitical climate. The rich programme included a selection of films on Chinese artist Liu Xiaodong, including the 2006 documentary Dong by Chinese director Jia Zhangke, which also screened at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival and the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. The programme also featured the premiere of On the other Riverbanks in Berlin, a documentary by Yang Bo about Liu’s 2018 site-specific project in Berlin. Liu Xiaodong: Hometown Boy directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien looked into the artist’s practice. The sector screened Spring Fever by Lou Ye, which won the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009, as well as a collection of three short films, Missing Police, by Beijing-based artist and director Ju Anqi, each portraying the 1960s, 1980s and the present in China.
The Conversations always present engaging talks and discussions, also providing an illuminating break from gallery booths. This year, in addition to the artists and curators discussing their practices and exhibitions, the programme also featured a collaboration with Art Asia Pacific, celebrating the art magazine’s 25th anniversary with a series of daily panels that revisited and examined contemporary art in Asia in the 1990s from curatorial, institutional, technological and commercial perspectives.
Finally, the unmissable highlight of the fair, Encounters curated by Executive Director of Sydney’s Artspace Alexie Glass-Kantor, spotlighted 12 institutional-scale installations, with eight works premiering at the show in Hong Kong. Supported by MGM Resorts Art & Culture, the works were installed along the four meridians running through the two exhibition halls of the fair. Among the highlights was a monumental ten-meter- long replica of a Zeppelin based on the footage of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, Willing To Be Vulnerable – Metalized Balloon by Lee Bul, presented by Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Lehmann Maupin and PKM Gallery. Chiharu Shiota created an ephemeral, site-specific work depicting 63 boats that figuratively sail across the space, touching on notions of migration and movement, titled Where Are We Going?, presented by Templon. Zhao Zhao’s In Extremis, presented by Tang Contemporary Art, addressed wider human rights issues.
Art Basel in Hong Kong continues to play a fundamental role in the development and growth of the art scene and art market not only in Hong Kong, but also across the Asian region, while at the same time drawing in collectors and institutions from around the world. As Sadi Coles, Owner of Sadi Coles HQ in London, commented,
Art Basel Hong Kong continues to be a key fair for galleries from all over the world. What was striking this year was the strong presence of museum directors, curators, and collectors from places like Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and Korea. The fair, whilst operating in Hong Kong, is also providing an opportunity for visitors to make valuable visits to other cities in the region prior to or after the fair. It feels like the connecting of a region rather than a single fair in a single city. At the same time, the city of Hong Kong seems to be ever- expanding in its own cultural presence. The growth of museums and foundations presenting excellent exhibitions alongside the fair is providing a rich experience for visitors coming to Hong Kong, and the expanding local gallery scene in the Aberdeen district is an indication of robust and authentic activity.
Art Basel in Hong Kong 2019 ran from 27 to 31 March 2019 at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre.