Hong Kong children start young in the Art Basel art class
Parents take their young offspring to the art session while they wander around the fair and maybe buy something
Some children in the city start learning how to properly appreciate contemporary art at the tender age of five as eager parents try to cultivate their children’s taste and possibly get them to understand art as an investment as early as possible.
A group of children aged from five to 15 were wandering around the Art Basel fair in Wan Chai on Friday afternoon, with an art specialist introducing key works to the young audience followed by a discussion about their meaning.
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In front of a giant work called Private Riots, which displays images of protest banners from around the world, the children were asked: “what cultures does the artwork explore?” and to score it on a scale of zero to 10.
The art appreciation programme – UBS Junior Art Hub – was sponsored by the Swiss bank UBS in a bid to serve younger art collectors in Hong Kong.
“When we analysed who would come to the fair, it was a bit younger here compared to America and Switzerland,” said Rob Stewart, chief communication officer for UBS Asia Pacific.
Among the three places where Art Basel takes place every year, Hong Kong is the only place providing such services to children.
To encourage these young potential collectors – many of them from wealthy families – to come to the fair and feel comfortable, the programme freed parents from taking care of their children for a few hours so they could enjoy the fair and maybe buy something, Stewart said.
