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Art

Art
News and insight on trends in fine art, art auctions and leading artists
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Donald Trump attends a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, in 2017. Photo: Reuters

Trump’s Beijing banquet: will it be Big Macs or Huaiyang cuisine in the Great Hall?

Discover how Huaiyang cuisine – China’s diplomatic delicacy – balances tradition and innovation to win over world leaders, from Nixon to Obama, in Beijing’s high-stakes banquet diplomacy.

Reading Time:9 minutes
The Hua Khao fishing village is populated by Muslims believed to be descended from Javanese settlers. Photo: Oliver Raw

Songkhla’s hidden charm: the town poised to put southern Thailand on the tourist map

Reading Time:7 minutes
Sichuan Verandah provides adjustable spice levels, from “baby spice” to “spice master”. Photo: courtesy Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s hottest new openings, from Stübli to Blanc de Noirs

Reading Time:2 minutes
Innocent and Chihiro Mutanga on the rooftop of Chungking Mansions, in Tsim Sha Tsui, the spot where they got engaged. Photo: Tracy Wong

The cross-cultural love story that forms the heart of the Africa Centre

Reading Time:6 minutes
Sumela Monastery, Trabzon province, Turkey. Photo: Getty Images

Rediscovering Turkey’s northeast: a journey from Trabzon to Erzurum

Reading Time:7 minutes
The pre-Chinese New Year rush at the Kowloon-Canton Railway terminal in Hung Hom, in 1978. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: crossing the Hong Kong-mainland China border through the decades

Reading Time:1 minute
MORE IN POSTMAG
Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Workshops like Eleanor McColl’s Bake & Create can leave participants feeling calmer, lighter and even healed. Photo: Handout
Mental health

The Hong Kong initiatives using art to improve physical and mental health

McColl innovatively combines baking and art, while the Hong Kong Cancer Fund has used art therapy to support patients and their families.

What to do in Hong Kong

Wet weekend? Here are 5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong from May 22-24

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Fashion

Louis Vuitton’s cruise 2027 show brought a pop of colour to The Frick

European travel

How Asian artists at the 2026 Venice Biennale are making their voices heard

Using everything from baby dolls to tapestries, Asian artists’ perspectives are strongly reflected in a number of memorable exhibitions.

Japanese-American artist Ei Arakawa-Nash holds two of the 208 baby dolls that are part of their exhibition “Grass Babies, Moon Babies” at the 2026 Venice Biennale’s Japan Pavilion. Photo: Uli Holz
Mental health

She started with portraits of strangers on Hong Kong streets. Then built a brand

Cherry Yeung started handing out sketches to spread positivity. Now, her Cute Soulz project includes a doll that represents a person’s inner child.

Italy

Once an Indonesian guerrilla fighter, she’s now a ‘quantum ghost’ in Venice

Len Karamoy, a leader of an Indonesian rebel movement, is the focus of Natasha Tontey’s video installation at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

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Style Edit

Style Edit: Hermès’ revamped Elements store is a cosmology-inspired escape

The maison’s revamped boutique in West Kowloon layers phoenix-inspired ceramics, stylish salons and curated art into a calm, fable-inspired setting.

A phoenix feather-inspired facade graces the outside of Hermès’ Elements store in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. Photo: Handout
Icons and Influencers

Couture craft meets whimsical walls in Laura Cheung’s Lala Curio

Craft traditions inform bespoke wall coverings and collectable objects for the contemporary home at the brand’s Peninsula Hong Kong showroom.

Hong Kong society

Hong Kong’s M+ museum to showcase collections in Paris under 5-year deal

Partnership with Paris-based Centre Pompidou also covers research and talent exchange.

What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this rainy weekend, May 15-17

Check out the Affordable Art Fair, enjoy pickleball and Pilates to the sounds of Justin Bieber or get into the spirit at the Hong Kong Whisky Festival.

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The Affordable Art Fair 2026 will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai from May 14 to 17. Photo: Affordable Art Fair
Hong Kong

Photographer’s snaps of 1970s Hong Kong given life by grandson 5 decades on

Jack Smith’s ‘Streets of Neon’ collection features five ‘extremely personal’ photos his grandad took of a Hong Kong that no longer exists.

A photo taken by Herbert Smith during his 1979 trip to Hong Kong titled “Painting in Neon (1979)”. It is among the five pictures featured in his grandson Jack Smith’s limited-time print collection “Streets of Neon: Hong Kong 1979”, in which the London-based archivist shares his grandfather’s adventures with the world five decades on. Photo: Herbert Smith
Soho House

Review | Soho House opens in Tokyo’s fashionable Aoyama neighbourhood

Soho House’s Tokyo outpost brings luxury accommodation, rooftop pool views, a Taschen bookshop and a distinctly Japanese-Western sensibility.

Luxury Hotels

How thoughtful curation and dedicated spaces turn hotels into living galleries

From Hong Kong and Macau to Beijing, luxury hotels are broadening the traditional city stay by adding spaces for guests to enjoy art.

Singapore

Sex, desire and intimacy explored in Singapore art exhibition for over-18s

‘Passion is Volcanic’ at National Gallery Singapore focuses on the artistic expressions of sexual pleasures.

Dissolving into the Same Breath #3 (2024), by Taiwanese-Singaporean artist Lavender Chang, used long-exposure photography to capture two people engaging in intimacy. The piece is one of more than 70 works in National Gallery Singapore's “Passion is Volcanic" exhibition. Photo: National Gallery Singapore
Hong Kong Museum of Art

Hong Kong wows the crowds to sleep at the 2026 Venice Biennale

The theme of the Biennale was to slow down enough to hear ignored voices, but Hong Kong’s pavilion might have taken things too far.

Visitors rest on cushions that form part of artist Kingsley Ng’s Laundry Nocturne installation at the Hong Kong pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Photo: Enid Tsui
Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

The Tai Po fire took this artist’s home and life’s work. Now she’s starting anew

Deaf artist Apple Tong, whose home and works were destroyed in the Wang Fuk Court fire, reveals how she is turning disaster into positivity.

European travel

When London’s museums started losing visitors, they decided to get creative

Faced with falling visitor numbers, the British capital’s museums – both old and new – have a plan to win back the crowds. But will it work?

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Icons and Influencers

5 exhibitions across the globe celebrating women who shaped art and culture

From Björk’s grief-tinged ‘Echolalia’ to Marina Abramović making history in Venice, these shows shine a light on women who shaped contemporary culture.

Museums around the world are spotlighting women who – like Frida Kahlo – have influenced contemporary culture. Photo: Nickolas Muray Collection of Mexican Art
What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this Mother’s Day weekend, May 8-10

From an artisan Mother’s Day market to food, fashion and music, check out our recommendations for things to do around the city this weekend.

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War and conflict

Russia and Israel’s Venice Biennale participation is causing big problems

The jury has resigned, EU funding has been cut, there’s no Golden Lion prize. One curator says: ‘You can’t be neutral when people are dying’.

Malaysia

Art of the steal: Malaysia unveils recovered 1MDB masterpieces

A Picasso and a Miro are among four works on show, representing a fraction of the US$4.5 billion looted from Malaysia’s 1MDB fund.

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Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Azam Baki (second from right) inspects Joan Miro’s “Composition” (1953) at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof
NFTs

Are NFTs the hero or villain in the contemporary art scene?

In March, Art Basel Hong Kong featured a dedicated space for digital practices, raising the question: what’s next for non-fungible tokens?

The financial hype behind NFTs may have evaporated, but blockchain technology still has many applications. Photo: Josh Ye
What to do in Hong Kong

Gardens of China and Europe juxtaposed in spectacular Hong Kong exhibition

A new exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art features works including Monet’s water lilies and Qing dynasty masterpieces.

Fashion

Met Gala 2026: an exclusive look at Nichapat Suphap’s Robert Wun gown

The Venture Management founder made her Met Gala debut in 2018 – and this year, she pulled out all the stops, she told Style in an exclusive interview.

Asian-Americans

Asian-American artists shine at US fair amid ongoing anti-immigrant rhetoric

Artists including Leland Wong and Liu Tianlian featured at the San Francisco Art Fair whose group exhibition focused on the local Chinatown.

Curator Hoi Leung (middle) photographed at the San Francisco Art Fair 2026 with colleagues from the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, Yuanyuan Zhu (left) and Kyan Ng (right). (Photo by Hunter Ridenour, courtesy of AMP)
Hong Kong

How Hong Kong’s 91-year-old Haw Par Mansion will transform into new cultural hub

Once the anchor of the iconic Tiger Balm Garden, the restored Grade 1 historic building will start a new chapter as Villa Haw Par this year.

Located on Tai Hang Road above Causeway Bay, Haw Par Mansion was built in 1935 and was once the site of the Tiger Balm Garden, a sprawling estate and theme park built by the Tiger Balm family. Photo: Edmond So
Trending in China

‘Stamp boy’: sealing passion of China emperor criticised for harming artworks

When Qianlong came across paintings and calligraphy he admired, he would place his seals on those artworks multiple times.

Food and Drinks

Unsung Eats: 5 best places to eat and drink in Taipei

Fresh takes on Taiwan’s famed fried chicken and breakfast, to tea cocktails and artisanal coffee, here are our Taipei foodie picks.

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