Art Basel Hong Kong fair rides on wave of interest in M+, city’s new museum of visual culture, in its first staging since Covid restrictions ended

Galleries exhibiting at the first Art Basel Hong Kong since Covid curbs were lifted say the opening of M+ museum helped draw international visitors to the fair

A former top Sotheby’s figure reports seeing a wide array of clients, but fewer Americans, and also says she has heard mainland Chinese bought 40 per cent of tickets

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Visitors on the first day of Art Basel Hong Kong 2023 look at some of the contemporary art on display at the fair in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Photo: Elson Li

Published: 6:14pm, 21 Mar 2023Updated: 7:28am, 22 Mar 2023

The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was packed with international visitors on Tuesday as Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia’s biggest art fair, opened its doors for the first time since Hong Kong dropped all pandemic-related restrictions.

Despite the rise of new art fairs in the region during the coronavirus pandemic, such as Frieze Seoul in the South Korean capital and Art SG in Singapore, Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, said the fair was “resolutely” committed to staying in Hong Kong because of the size of its art market and the ease of doing business in the city.

Art advisers said the early signs were encouraging. “Hong Kong is back,” said Patti Wong, former international chairman of Sotheby’s who set up her own advisory business this year. “I’ve seen clients from mainland China, Taiwan, Israel, the UK. And sales are brisk.”

Widely seen as a barometer of Asian demand for contemporary art and of Hong Kong’s standing as an international art market, Art Basel Hong Kong opened its doors to invited VIPs at midday, as did a satellite fair, Art Central, at the same Wan Chai venue.

A total of 177 galleries from 32 countries and territories are taking part in the five-day event, compared to 242 galleries in 2019, the last edition before the pandemic, and 130 booths in 2022.

Art Central has 70 exhibitors, up from 52 last year. Of these, 35 are from outside Hong Kong.