More than 190 contemporary artists will be represented at Mapping Asia - The 18th Asian International Art Exhibition which opens today at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Sha Tin. To mark the event, 100 participating artists from 15 Asian countries were flown in for a three-day visit. On their first full day in the city yesterday, they visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art to take in the Hong Kong Art Biennial, which opened last month. Organisers of the Biennial, Hong Kong's pre-eminent visual-arts event, had been criticised for failing to promote the event, only making programmes available a day or two before the opening. And while similar overseas exhibitions usually involve large numbers of international artists, none had visited the Hong Kong Biennial - until now. Most of the artists attending Mapping Asia liked what they saw. Guangzhou artist Liu Yuan said: 'This show is beyond my highest expectations and should be shown internationally.' The Philippines' Ben Cabrera was intrigued by 'the new concepts, particularly in video and photography'. Robert O'Brian, a Hong Kong artist and educator, said: 'This is one of the best Biennials of the past 10 years.' Both exhibitions are organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
