Organisers look to future as Hong Kong contemporary art fair enjoys strong debut
Art021 David Chau co-founder says he hopes the fair can become a long-running staple of the city’s art scene
An inaugural contemporary art fair had a strong debut in Hong Kong, with organisers reporting robust traffic and purchasing power, while revealing the most expensive piece sold for millions of yuan.
Co-founder of Shanghai-based Art021 David Chau said on Sunday he hoped the fair could become a long-running staple of the city’s art scene, playing a role in securing Hong Kong as an arts hub for the Global South, as well as new collectors hoping to enter the market.
The Art021 Hong Kong Contemporary Art Fair opened on Thursday at various venues across the city, including gallery pieces hosted at the WKCDA Tower in West Kowloon and videos at the Asia Society in Admiralty.
Chau said the attendance of 30,000 people for the initial three days had already exceeded expectations.
“Initially, we estimated that the main event would attract about 10,000, but it has already exceeded that. We are really happy with the turnout,” he said.
Founded in 2013, the Art021 fair – deemed by some as mainland China’s answer to Art Basel – was inaugurated in Shanghai and exponentially grew to achieve more than 1 billion yuan in sales revenue in the last three years, organisers said.
