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Participating galleries reported bumper sales.
The annual fair, which also has editions in Basel, Paris, and
Miami Beach, will run from March 23 to 25. The 2023 event is the
first in four years to be held in full, after 2020's was
cancelled and the next two mostly put on line.
Large queues of people, most not wearing masks, were seen
entering the venue. Art Basel Hong Kong is one of the first big
events the city has held since dropping its COVID-19 mask
mandate this month.
Many galleries at the fair said the reopening of the border with
mainland China in January had helped boost business after three
years of COVID closures.
Aimee Man, a sales director at Peres Projects, said 70% of that
gallery's art pieces had been sold in the pre-selling session
before the fair.
"We are just really excited to be back after almost four years.
And this year is really different, because the borders are
reopening."
City authorities are welcoming the art fair as they try to
reinvigorate the economy and promote Hong Kong as a vibrant
cultural hub.
The city is also hosting two financial summits this week,
followed next month by the Rugby Sevens three-day tournament and
music festival Creamfields.
Li Danqing, senior international partner at LGDR gallery, said
things were returning to normal. People were more informed about
the artwork but still a bit cautious, because of the strife in
the banking industry, she said.
"Everyone is more cautious but making wiser and better decision
in terms of buying," she said.
Popular artworks include Yayoi Kusama's "Pumpkin" - a yellow and
black polka-dotted sculpture - and a hanging installation made
up of 13 twisted plants known as money trees. The latter aimed
at alluding to peoples' communal experience of lockdown during
COVID.
Teresa Choi, a visitor from Macau, said Hong Kong was much
busier than during COVID times.
"Hong Kong has always been the international financial hub for
Asia ... Travellers are regaining their confidence about Hong
Kong and the economy and want to come."
(Reporting by Joyce Zhou, Rhea Saxena and Deniz Ayhan; Writing
by Farah Master; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
(Photo: An installation titled "Calligraphic
Wig" by Daniel Knorr is displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong,
China, March 23, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)
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