Hong Kong Art Industry at a Glance

By Claudia Albertini, Senior Director at MASSIMODECARLO

2022 has been a rollercoaster of a year, especially for us here in Greater China. If the pandemic has tested our personal limits, art has instead proven a great undisputable guidance.

The emergence of new artistic voices has enriched and provided variety in the art market; there’s been a resurgence in the interest in figuration, while abstraction has kept its solid position. The NFT world seems to have set foot into the visual culture scene, whether that is now considered a form of art or a visual language is still to be discussed.

The Chinese and, at large, the Asian art market are overall very active. Collecting art is more than a pleasure, it is art itself. Seemingly, it is also seen as a safe form of investment. By following rules and trends very different from the Western art market, the Greater China art market helps to differentiate risks in a solid and relevant way. A younger generation of art collectors is emerging, they are eager to learn and welltrained in appreciation, all that is needed now is to jump into a new year with optimism and goodwill.

Hong Kong is ready to reconfirm its solid position as the centre of Asia. Local and Western art galleries are gearing up towards March when a full edition of Art Basel HK is due to happen. There’s a strong expectation from the audience throughout Asia; although Hong Kong has been difficult to pay a visit to in the past three years, it has now opened its doors and the art audience is confident in the city’s energy and possibilities.

New Asian art capitals are emerging, Singapore and Seoul to name a few, however, Hong Kong has strongly held its pioneering position and with the opening of the M+ Museum, the Palace Museum, the new headquarters of major auction houses across the cities, and many more art events, it is difficult to be replaced.