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Five years ago, Amelia Johnson placed an advertisement in the newspapers looking for a gallery assistant. 'We got everything under the sun,' the gallerist recalls, 'even a chemical engineer.

'You asked people to describe how they thought the job was going to pan out and they'd say, 'I think it's going to be very nice because I get to sit here and look at paintings.' I was, like, no ... that's what you'd do if you wanted to be a museum custodian.'

Today, the calibre of applications Johnson receives is much higher.

'I had one girl who spent a long time explaining to me all the different ways you can pack up a painting. The fact she knew acrylic dries faster than oil and oil, with the humidity, can take up to a year to dry ... yes, this is all very encouraging. It is at a very low level but encouraging.'

In a city where art is still largely regarded as a hobby or commodity and where most visual artists have to hold down a day job in design or teaching to make a living, even the tiniest show of interest or knowledge of the subject can be construed as progress - the inching forward of a cultural evolution that will, hopefully, lead Hong Kong into an era of enlightenment. Talk of Hong Kong being an 'art hub' is extremely premature. This autumn, as the rest of Asia revels in the euphoria of art biennales and triennales (large curated international exhibitions that take place every two or three years) - the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, 3rd Yokohama Triennale, 7th Kwangju Biennale, 6th Taipei Biennial, 2nd Singapore Biennale, 7th Shanghai Biennale and 6th Pusan Biennale - Hong Kong remains wanting.

We do have what is called the Art Biennial, which has been run by the government-operated Hong Kong Museum of Art for more than three decades, but it is no more than an open art competition. Rather than upgrading the event to a curated international exhibition, the museum is considering renaming it to reflect its parochial nature.

However, art is not just about art. It's also about status and financial investment, concepts dear to this city's heart. Poised to become the epicentre for the commercial side of contemporary art in the region, Hong Kong will play host to a series of international fairs and major auction sales over the next six months - including Christie's first evening sale in Asia.

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