How to Grow a Hong Kong Art Scene
Out city’s art scene is on the edge of a renaissance—but there’s work to be done before a full-blown flourishing.
Art fairs, art events, art galleries, art nights, art walks: all signs point to a Hong Kong art scene that's on the up and up. This weekend, scores of international collectors descend on Hong Kong to snap up the best in modern Asian culture at Art Basel. The city's art scene might be attracting international hype—but local artists aren’t getting the level of exposure they should be.
“Hong Kong is the primary storefront for Chinese contemporary art,” says Mark Saunderson, co-founder and director of the Asia Contemporary Art Show. He estimates that 65 percent of Hong Kong’s art galleries handle only Chinese contemporary artists—leaving precious little room for home-grown talent. So what can we do to take all this art energy to the next level? Whether you’re a wealthy Basel collector, an up-and-coming-artist, a patron or even just a good old fashioned art-lover, we can all help improve the Hong Kong art scene in a few easy steps.
1. Think Global
The world is in the grip of Chinese art fever—but Hong Kong doesn’t seem to count. It's tough for local artists to score face-time in the city's big-time galleries. Fortunately, there are voices in Hong Kong standing up for local art’s space in the world.
“It’s a real struggle for people to become artists in Hong Kong,” says author and collector William Lim, who almost exlusively buys Hong Kong art. His new book, “The No Colors,” examines the development of contemporary art in the city. “We have some very unusual and very talented artists who went against society when they selected this profession. They are starting to prove that they have a place, and they are doing work that is worth paying attention to.”
For years, Hong Kong art has been viewed as no more than a sideline to the Chinese market. But “it’s not a provincial scene,” says Cosmin Costinas, the director of nonprofit art space Para/Site. He suggests that the secret to fostering local art is not to wall ourselves off, but instead to interact with the rest of the world.
Morgan Wong, “Plus-Minus-Zero”