On Thursday a panel of judges - the Post's arts editor, Kevin Kwong, ART HK 09 Advisory Group chairman Charles Merewether, ArtAsiaPacific magazine editor Elaine Ng and Beijing-based art critic Pauline Yao - will decide which artist will receive a US$2,500 cash award and an invitation to create a front cover for the Sunday Post Magazine.

Competition is expected to be fierce with a diverse range of art including drawings, paintings and installations being judged on aesthetics and conceptual depth.

Representing Hong Kong are Ooi Botos Gallery and Gallery Exit; both were established last year.

Founded by Shanghai Tang creative director Joanne Ooi and former Time magazine picture editor Lisa Botos, Ooi Botos Gallery is non-conformist, not only in its location - in the middle of a Wan Chai wet market - but also in its focus on inventive art.

In the case of Zhou Yi, who splits her time between Paris and Hong Kong, it's the medium as well as the message that is innovative. 'She works with a multitude of mediums,' says Botos. 'She primarily uses film, but also does sculptural work and animation. My Heart Laid Bare was made of aerogel [a weapons industry material], which had never been used in an artwork before. That's a very visionary outlook.'

In contrast, it's back to basics - or nature, at least - for Lin Xue, a 40-year-old who gets inspiration from hiking three days a week. 'He uses the most natural medium,' says Gallery Exit co-founder Aenon Loo. 'He takes sharpened bamboo and he dips it in ink and he draws with it. [Lin] has been working very quietly in Hong Kong for the past 20 years.' The Fujian-born artist has not exhibited since 1998, Loo says.

Another Gallery Exit artist, 27-year-old former Guangzhou reporter Mei Zhijia, produces work that 'looks quite organic', although his inspiration comes more from history and art history. 'It is related to the way the media [and] images bombard us from all directions,' Loo says. 'Mei Zhijia is trying to make sense of this world. His mind is pretty chaotic. He thinks of many things and tries to organise everything he sees on the surface.'

Botos also emphasises the importance of the thinking process that goes into creating art. 'Aesthetics is a very important element, obviously, but there does have to be more. The artists we work with are very intellectual,' she says.

The winner of the SCMP/Art Futures will be chosen on Thursday, the opening day of Art HK 09, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre; the fair runs until May 17 and brings together more than 110 galleries from 24 countries.

Last year some 102 galleries showcased 850 artists at the inaugural fair, attracting close to 20,000 visitors in five days and driving strong art sales.

Art HK 09, Thu-May 17, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Opening hours: Thu, 12pm-9pm; Fri-Sat, 12pm-8pm; Sun, 12pm-6pm. Various admission fees. Inquiries: 2918 8793

Participating artists and galleries

140sqm (Shanghai): Qian Gang and Roland Fischer

Beijing Art Now Gallery (Beijing): Li Bo and Hong Shaopei

Breenspace (Sydney): Gary Carsley

C-Space (Beijing): Sagi Groner and Victor Racatau

Galleria Dell'Arco (Palermo and Shanghai): Om Soorya

Galerie Lena Bruning (Berlin): Philipp Fuerhofer and Miriam Wania

Gallery Exit (Hong Kong): Mei Zhijia and Lin Xue

Langgeng Gallery (Magelang, Indonesia): Ay Tjoe Christine

Nanzuka Underground (Tokyo): Keichi Tanaami

Ooi Botos Gallery (Hong Kong): Zhou Yi and Xing Danwen

Yamamoto Gendai (Tokyo): Nishio Yasuyuki and Ohtake Tsukasa