Art Basel Hong Kong 2025 explores new frontiers

The fair extends its reach to embrace tech, film and indigenous art, with more than 20 new galleries taking part this year

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A work by Doku, a digital persona developed by Lu Yang, exemplifies how Art Basel Hong Kong has been diversifying its offering. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:06pm, 26 Mar 2025

Now in its 13th edition, Art Basel Hong Kong returns with 240 exhibitors from 42 countries and territories, including record-breaking participation in the fair’s Kabinett sector. There are more than 20 new galleries joining the event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this year, with more than half of the participating galleries from around the Asia-Pacific region.

The event is expanding beyond its traditional showcase of galleries and artwork in a number of ways. The winner of the inaugural MGM Discoveries Art Prize, which aims to shine a spotlight on the talent of emerging artists from around the globe, will be announced on March 28 at the MGM Lounge inside the fair. Local institution Para Site is curating the film section for the first time, and new cultural partners include Tomorrow Maybe, Hass Lab and Design Trust.

Angelle Siyang-Le, Art Basel Hong Kong’s director aim to speed up the expansion of the fair. Photo: Handout

“During what we call the ‘closet years’ of the pandemic, we lost our sense of connectivity. Now we are rebuilding and we want to accelerate it, connecting beyond what we used to know as the art world,” says fair director Angelle Siyang-Le on the Art Basel website. “We’re building bridges with the worlds of the performing arts, fashion, music, architecture and design. We are growing beyond being an art fair to be at the centre of a cultural ecosystem in Asia.”

The Encounters sector is arguably the most eye-catching part of this year’s event. Dedicated to presenting large-scale sculptures, installations and performance works by leading artists from around the world, of the fair’s 18 works in this section, more than half have been created specifically for Art Basel Hong Kong.

These presentations of work “transcend the traditional art fair booth” and are organised into four categories. Works in the Passage section foreground themes of cultural resonance, resilience and storytelling; Alteration examines the subversion of abstraction and materiality; The Return focuses on mythology, spirituality and “the cyclical nature of existence”; and Charge looks at the intersection of the digital and physical realms.

This last platform is of particular interest to Alexie Glass-Kantor, who is in her last year as curator at Art Basel Hong Kong. Highlighted pieces include new works by Tokyo-based Chinese artist Lu Yang – who has designed a pop-up store selling artwork by Doku, a digital avatar – and Frank Wang Yefeng, who has recreated an abstracted garden inspired by nomadism and a trip to the Gobi Desert.

We are growing beyond being an art fair to be at the centre of a cultural ecosystem in Asia

Angelle Siyang-Le, Art Basel Hong Kong