Hong Kong Tourism Board seals 3-year deal with Art Basel to showcase city on world stage
- As part of the partnership – a first between a tourism body and the exhibitor – the board will take part in all four annual shows
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has sealed a three-year partnership with Art Basel, the first such organisation to strike a deal with the exhibitor, allowing it to showcase the city’s culture on a global stage.
The annual art fair, which originated in Basel, Switzerland in 1970, was extended to Miami Beach in 2002, Hong Kong in 2013 – its only Asian location – and Paris in 2022.
“The collaboration with Art Basel underscores [the board’s] continuous efforts in promoting Hong Kong on the global stage,” executive director Dane Cheng Ting-yat said.
“By sharing the city’s unique character through immersive experiences on the world’s most prestigious art platform, we hope to inspire travellers to visit our city and discover its thriving creative community and rich cultural experiences.”
Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz also celebrated the agreement, saying that “by shining a global spotlight on Hong Kong’s vibrant art scene, this partnership will enhance the experience for our fair visitors, while unlocking new opportunities and fostering deeper connections between Hong Kong and art communities around the world”.
As a show partner, the board will take part in all four annual fairs over the next three years. The first will be Art Basel Paris, set to take place in October at the French capital’s Grand Palais.
A board spokesman said its Paris exhibit would be an “immersive Hong Kong-themed zone”, but details were still being discussed and had yet to be finalised.
At the most recent Hong Kong Art Basel in March, the board teamed up with the organiser to create a show on the city’s signature food and drinks – a cha chaan teng immersive exhibit.
Visitors were able to enjoy local delicacies such as pineapple buns, local-style French toast, milk tea and lemon tea amid the decor and neon signs of a traditional Hong Kong cafe.
The spokesman said the collaboration on that particular exhibit was what had inspired the new partnership.
“The cha chaan teng is a Hong Kong icon, which makes its appearance at Art Basel special,” he said.
Art Basel said its Hong Kong show at the Convention and Exhibition Centre received more than 75,000 visitors from around the world across three days allocated for VIPs and the public.
It was supported by a grant from the city’s Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund for the second year in a row and was a highlight of the government’s “Art March” initiative.
Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung hailed the agreement as a good opportunity for Hong Kong to showcase itself to the rest of the world.
“Art Basel gathers elites from the art industry, which is a great target for us,” he said.
He suggested the Tourism Board could use the opportunity to introduce local, up-and coming-artists in its exhibits.
Fellow lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said the deal could help solidify Hong Kong as a regional art trading centre.
“Participants of the event tend to be high spenders, which I believe can also help drive retail, tourism and consumption,” he said.
After Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu took office in 2022, he sought to distinguish his approach to promoting the city on the international stage from that of his predecessor, citing traditional phrases in insisting Hong Kong had to “tell people how great we are”.
He was referring to telling good stories about Hong Kong on the global stage following the 2019 social unrest and the national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.
