Shanghai Fair ART021 to Launch in Hong Kong This Summer

The fair's sudden arrival comes with assistance from Hong Kong's Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund, which aims to rebuild global interest in the city after the pandemic.

Sales at Art Basel Hong Kong still haven't recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to galleries we spoke to at the time, but another contemporary art fair has nevertheless announced plans to enter the market.

ART021 takes its name from the calling code for Shanghai, but it will maintain the same brand when it takes place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre—the same location as Art Basel Hong Kong—this summer.

ART021 was established by Kylie Ying, Bao Yifeng, and David Chau in 2013 and quickly found success with a new generation of mainland Chinese collectors. They expanded to Beijing with JINGART in 2018, and launched Shenzhen DNA, just across the border from Hong Kong, in 2021. The Shenzhen fair will go on hold with the launch of ART021 Hong Kong.

Chau told The Art Newspaper the decision to expand to Hong Kong was prompted by an invitation to apply for funding from Hong Kong's Mega Arts and Cultural Events (ACE) Fund, which was created in 2022 to help draw people back to the city following the pandemic. The HK $1.4 billion (US $178.8 million) fund is helmed by committee chair Adrian Cheng, founder of the K11 art malls.

Chau said the fair would likely take place this summer, the only time The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was available. As well as Art Basel Hong Kong in March, the venue hosts the Fine Art Asia fair in October.

Some 80 galleries will be selected by invitation only for the inaugural edition of the fair. Most will come from Hong Kong and China, but there are plans to include a focus on art from the Silk Road—countries in Eurasia central to Chinese leader Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative.

Chau said the fair hoped to align with the Global South, starting with West Asia and expanding to include South Asia, Africa, and South America. —[O]