Hong Kong art dealers, decimated by months of protests and coronavirus, turn to the internet to find buyers
- Art dealers and galleries employ digital tools to boost sagging fortunes of the once vibrant art market
- Hong Kong’s auction market saw double-digit declines in value for a second consecutive year in 2019, after sales reached a record high in 2017, according to the Art Market 2020 report
Hong Kong’s art dealers experimenting with digital marketing say the move is starting to pay dividends, even as the Covid-19 pandemic and last year’s social unrest continue to plague the local market.
Macey and Sons, an auctioneer and valuer, has seen an uplift in business after it started using virtual marketing in December. “We do a lot of FaceTime with clients,” said founder Jonathan Macey. “You can sit in your house and the gallery comes to you.”
He added that all the galleries in Hong Kong were doing it now and that “this is the way forward”.
Art dealers acknowledged that the last eight months have been difficult for Hong Kong’s vibrant market as the protests had dented the city’s reputation, with the coronavirus outbreak delivering another massive blow.
According to the Art Market 2020 report by Art Basel and UBS released on March 6, Hong Kong’s auction market plunged 25 per cent in 2019, much steeper than the 9 per cent decline in China. It was the second year of double-digit declines in value in Hong Kong, after sales reached their highest ever level in 2017, the report said.
