Art Basel Hong Kong showed no signs of slowing down on opening day, despite the political and economic instability across the globe. Several galleries reported swift sales, and the venue welcomed thousands of people for its First Choice preview day, signaling a successful start to Asia’s most important art fair. Art Basel Hong Kong kicked off on March 26 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, featuring 240 galleries from 42 countries and territories. Several bold names from the region were in attendance including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Chinese businesswoman Zhang Zetian, the Left Ear actress Ma Sichun, From Beijing with Love actress Anita Yuen, and Taiwanese singer and actor Jay Chou. Dealers and fairgoers were in high spirits as the fair opened its doors at noon.
“2023 was about the reopening,” said Art Basel Hong Kong director Angelle Siyang-Le at the press conference ahead of the fair. “2024 naturally it was about reconnecting between East and West, and 2025 after two years of involving [SIC] with the art industry, with our art community, I feel that naturally, the theme this year and our goal is to repurpose, and how we repurpose is [to] transcend ourselves beyond buying and selling platforms to date, what we called an intersection for creative opportunities, and our goal is always to support the galleries and the artists.”
Many galleries reported sales, most notably a 2013 Yayoi Kusama Infinity Nets painting for $3.5 million by David Zwirner. New York-based Tina Kim listed two works by Pacita Abad sold, one for $250,000 to $500,000, and the other for between $100,000 and $250,000, as well as a painting by Ha Chong-Hyun that sold for $100,000 to $250,000. On the second VIP day, Kim placed one of the large-scale Abad works from the Encounters installation with a Southeast Asian museum, selling it for $500,000; a record for the artist.
—Ann Binlot
