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Art Basel Hong Kong Organizers Optimistic About Post-COVID Art Market
Organizers of Art Basel Hong Kong, one of the top contemporary art fairs in Asia, expressed optimism about the art market prospects in the region. They cited the lifting of all COVID lockdown restrictions in Hong Kong and China as significant factors. The event runs from March 23-25 in Hong Kong and includes 177 galleries from 32 countries and territories worldwide.
Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz praised the Asian art market’s resilience despite the pandemic, with Greater China accounting for 20% of worldwide sales by value and ranking second in the latest edition of Art Basel. However, Hong Kong faces some challenges to practically get back to normalcy, including vacant stores, an absence of Chinese visitors who previously propelled the city’s art market, and fewer than 56 million visitors in 2019.
The event features top international galleries such as Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Lehmann Maupin, Victoria Miro, Pace, Perrotin, White Cube, and David Zwirner. The Hong Kong government has welcomed the event as an opportunity to reinvigorate the city’s economy after a nearly three-year slump due to factors like COVID lockdowns, closed borders with China, and a security crackdown.
Art Basel faces criticism from some Western governments as a tool of repression after the sweeping national security law passed in June 2023. The law has resulted in the curbing of freedoms, arrests of opposition democrats and the shuttering of liberal media outlets. However, the Chinese government claims that it has brought stability after pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The organizers assure that they respect creative expression, and “We don’t have any censorship process in the show. We haven’t really changed the process of the show since 2013,” said Angelle Siyang-Le, the director of Art Basel Hong Kong.
