Why French couple chose Hong Kong for art gallery

A dream to open a photography gallery in the heart of Hong Kong inspired French couple Marie-Florence Gros and Cyril Delettre to leave their native Paris for the city in September last year.

A few months later, they opened La Galerie, a contemporary fine arts space on Hollywood Road. They've also immersed themselves in the city's fine arts scene, proposing a strong ethos that asks the question: "What is the difference between artwork and ordinary cliché?"

This curiosity stems from the couple's lifestyle: they, too, are artists, with well-established careers in France. Gros is a writer, lyricist, singer (stage name Rochevive Mali) and artist who met filmmaker and photographer Delettre through several projects they undertook together. These include a video for the French activist movement , aiming to eradicate violence against women, and the film (2012), written by Gros and filmed by Delettre, which explores social values and issues concerning the death penalty.

Hong Kong is familiar ground for both, although this is their first time living in Asia. Growing up in the South of France, Gros' childhood was charged with the spirit of the East - aside from travelling to Asia frequently with her family, her late father, textile manufacturer Leo Gros, had a strong relationship with his Chinese consumers and with China.

So naturally, Gros chose Hong Kong as the next stop on her map. "It's the hub of Asia - a very lively and efficient city - and anything is possible," she says. The state of photography art here was also a key factor in their decision to cross the proverbial pond.

Although there is a roster of institutions and galleries dedicated to the art form - Blindspot Gallery, F11 Museum and YellowKorner being just a few - Gros is taking a long-term view. Photography in France, she says, has a history reaching back to the early 19th century, when the French government bought the patent of Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype - the earliest photographic process.