Art festival will turn HK into a creative playground
Print Edition
A FLYING forest, a styrofoam mausoleum and a giant seesaw will greet visitors to Hong Kong’s Art Basel fair from tomorrow as the finance hub transforms into a creative playground.
The annual show comes as Hong Kong’s status as a center for collectors grows, with artists, gallery owners and celebrities gathering at the harborside convention center.
China maintained its market leader status in 2014, accounting for US$5.6 billion in global art sales, closely followed by the United States, according to data firm Artprice.
But while the slick international display of Art Basel, which drew 60,000 visitors last year, is the headline event during Hong Kong’s Art Week, smaller shows pop up all around town to coincide with the show.
“The art market in Hong Kong has seen such a boom in recent years yet local art is still pigeonholed as ‘emerging,’” said Katie de Tilly, co-founder of the Chai Wan Mei Design Festival.
Chai Wan is a residential area in the east of central Hong Kong, where former warehouses are now home to galleries and artists’ studios.
“It’s less polished than the whirl of the fairs and you really get a feel for Hong Kong’s artistic soul,” she said.
Co-founder Claudia Albertini compared it to the atmosphere at European fashion weeks.
“I don’t think Hong Kong is far behind art cities like Miami and Berlin, it plays an important part on the global art stage,” she said.
A new event, Art Central, will also take place from Saturday on the Hong Kong waterfront.
“The fair is completely rooted in our city, with a focus on Hong Kong galleries and artists, and regional market trends,” said co-founder Tim Etchells.
Art Basel Hong Kong started three years ago and is the newest addition to the international art show scene.
Champagne-soaked and glamorous it attracted celebrities including model Kate Moss and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to Hong Kong last year, with Victoria Beckham and Hollywood star Susan Sarandon set to attend this year.
Central to the display will be the large-scale “Encounters” pieces, including a suspended forest of olive trees by Irish artist Siobhan Hapaska, a mausoleum made from styrofoam by Hong Kong-based Portuguese artist Joao Vasco Paiva and a giant seesawing log propped up by Indian Buddhist statues by Indian artist Tallur LN.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
