What to catch during Art Basel Hong Kong 2024: from the fair’s Insights and Kabinett thematic presentations, to large-scale Encounters installations and Yang Fudong’s Sparrow on the Sea on M+ Facade

Mar 27 , 2024

In 2024, Art Basel Hong Kong’s Insights sector features “exceptional historical material”, Encounters includes an off-site installation at Pacific Place by Australian artist Daniel Boyd, Kabinett has more galleries than ever before – and then there is Yang Fudong’s Sparrow on the Sea on the M+ Facade. Photo: Handout

Insights features ‘exceptional historical material’, Encounters includes an off-site installation at Pacific Place by Daniel Boyd, while Kabinett has more galleries than ever before

Director Angelle Siyang-Le says that 2024 is all about ‘reconnecting’, and that most businesses operating in the art market are ‘optimistic for at least a stable year ahead’

Now an established event on the regional art calendar, this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong sees the scale of the show return to pre-pandemic levels. An additional 65 exhibitors are participating in the fair compared with last year, with 242 galleries from 40 countries and territories set to display a thrilling diversity of art sure to please, confound and provoke debate in equal measure.

Angelle Siyang-Le, director of Art Basel Hong Kong, said that while 2023 was a year of “reopening”, 2024 is all about “reconnecting”. That reconnection is particularly regionally focused. While the show has fairs in Basel, Miami Beach and Paris as well as Hong Kong, each show is unique, defined by its host city and region.

Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 is showcasing 242 galleries, a 37 per cent increase on the 2023 show (pictured). Photo: Elson Li

In Basel, more than half of exhibitors have spaces in Europe, while in Miami Beach, more than half have a presence in the Americas. In Hong Kong, more than two-thirds of participating galleries have exhibition spaces across Asia-Pacific, while Hong Kong itself will be strongly represented, with 29 home-grown galleries.

The Art Basel and UBS “Global Art Market Report 2024”, a macroeconomic analysis of the state of the global market written independently by cultural economist Dr Clare McAndrew, found that China has returned to being the second-largest art market globally, with its share rising to 19 per cent, overtaking the UK.

Angelle Siyang-Le, director, Art Basel Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Sales in China bucked the decline of the past three years, increasing by 9 per cent to an estimated US$12.2 billion. As the country reopened in January 2023, there was a surge of activity in the art market in the first six months of the year, with postponed auction inventories sold to enthusiastic post-lockdown buyers.

“Although 2023 was a challenging year for growth in the art market, at the end of the year and looking forward to 2024, most of the businesses operating in it are optimistic for at least a stable year ahead,” said Siyang-Le, who also stressed that the fair is committed to showcasing exceptional art from across Asia-Pacific.

But as well as ensuring regional galleries are represented, Art Basel Hong Kong also has curated sections that are unique to this year’s Hong Kong fair, such as Insights.