Phillips auction house to set up Asia HQ in Hong Kong next to new M+ museum
- The Russian-owned company will rent a third of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority’s administrative block flanking M+, including the top two floors
- Authority CEO hails the deal as momentous, but one cultural critic fears turning ‘private taste into public good’
The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) has announced it is renting out the main floors of its administrative block flanking the M+ museum to Russian-owned auction house Phillips to use as its Asia headquarters.
The deal, announced on December 16, was momentous, the public body’s chief executive officer, Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, said, and marked the beginning of the authority’s “long-term collaboration with Phillips in contributing to local, regional and international arts and cultural development”. But a cultural critic fears it is another example of private tastes being turned into a public good.
The auctioneer, which has seen sales in Hong Kong nearly double in the past year, will take 48,000 sq ft (4,460 square metres) of space in the 16-storey building.
Phillips will have five-and-a-half floors in the building – the two top floors with a triple-height space and a 14-metre-tall glass window overlooking the harbour will be for auction previews and other exhibitions, and three lower floors as retail space. The remaining half floor will be office space.
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Stephen Brooks, Phillips’ chief executive officer, said: “Phillips’ expanding presence in Asia is a critical component of our growth strategy with Asian participation in Phillips’ auctions becoming such a significant force. We have seen over 30 per cent increase in Asian client interaction with Phillips since the start of lockdown last year.
“I am delighted we will have a state-of-the-art permanent sale room presence in such an exceptional, and world class, cultural destination in West Kowloon.”
The move is in line with the auctions industry’s shift away from its business model of twice-yearly flagship auction weeks in Asia to having year-round sales of art and collectibles.
Jonathan Crockett, chairman, Asia, of Phillips said: “This exciting move and addition of permanent exhibition space will allow Phillips Asia to expand our offering as well as hold exhibitions, auctions and other events throughout the year.
The authority will not disclose the rent Phillips will pay, but says the income generated from the deal will be used to finance the operation and development of the cultural district.
“The museums in [the West Kowloon Cultural District] have well-established, international-standard acquisition policy, as well as a robust governance structure and procedures defined by the policy approved by the [authority] board and the relevant governing bodies,” it added.
Such a rental arrangement was in line with the approved development plan of the cultural district and was part of a “well-established financial model to sustain the operation and development of the district and support the pursuit of its cultural mission”, it said.
The close relationship between a public cultural body and the private sector has its critics.
Artist, curator and critic Anthony Leung Po-shan sees it as the latest sign of the cultural district normalising a symbiotic relationship between public museums and commercial or private interests.
“From day one, the entire district was meant to be built through public and private partnerships. Traditional rules on museum ethics are not applicable. This is where private tastes are transformed into a public good, and where businesses can share in the district’s cultural capital,” she said.
In addition, it reflects the belief that success in the art market - notoriously susceptible to manipulation and lacking transparency - equates to artistic success, Leung says, before adding: “But this is what young artists want now, and perhaps that’s what the WKCDA takes into account.”
The authority earlier announced that it faced a HK$491 million (US$63 million) operating deficit before depreciation and interest expenses for the financial year 2020-21 and at the end of that financial year had only HK$7.9 billion left of the Hong Kong government’s HK$21.6 billion upfront endowment with many of the cultural venues in the district still unbuilt.
Phillips, a smaller rival to Sotheby’s and Christies, says its 2021 Asian sales reached a record high of HK$2.1 billion this year and that of the top ten lots auctioned by Phillips worldwide year-to-date, five went to buyers from Asia, confirming its belief in the long-term potential of the Asian market.
