Art Basel Hong Kong
Marking its largest show since 2019, the 2023 edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong welcomes 177 galleries from 32 countries and territories across Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Africa, plus the return of all the fair’s special sectors, including Encounters, Kabinett, Conversations, and Film. Over two-thirds of participating galleries have exhibition spaces in the region – with 33 galleries having exhibition spaces in Hong Kong – reinforcing Art Basel’s commitment to showcasing exceptional art from its host city and across Asia and the Asia Pacific.
Encounters
Curated for the sixth time by Alexie Glass-Kantor – Executive Director of Artspace, Sydney and the curator for the Australian pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale – Encounters features 13 large-scale installations under the theme ‘This present, moment’.
Highlights from Encounters include:

- Trevor Yeung’s ‘Mr. Cuddles Under the Eave’ (2021), in which the artist continues his practice of personifying botanic ecology and inanimate objects to articulate the complexities of human emotion and relationships. Presented by Blindspot Gallery.
- ‘Trolley Party’ (2023), a site-specific work by Jaffa Lam consisting of 14 meters of patchwork made from recycled and found everyday fabrics and emerging from six chairs made of industrial trollies. Inspired by Lam’s childhood memory of women workers, the installation invites visitors to enter its serene interior. Presented by Axel Vervoordt Gallery with Zilberman Gallery.

- Masked mannequin sculptures in ‘Solitude of Silences’ (2017-2019) by Gimhongsok, portraying laborers who compose the majority of modern urban populations and represent an uncertainty over the value of labor. Presented by Kukje Gallery.
- The marble installation ‘The Wine Dark Sea’ (2022, 2023) by Ukrainian artist Stanislava Pinchuk, on migrant journeys and conceptions of hospitality. Presented by Yavuz Gallery
- Carlos Aires’s ‘Like Tears in the Rain’ (2023), a sculptural installation made with scrupulously shredded decommissioned Euro banknotes: a topography of money, in the form of a bizarre landscape. Presented by Sabrina Amrani.
- Wu Shanzhuan and Inga Svala Thórsdóttir’s ‘Constellation Forest’ (2018), which invites visitors to stroll and dwell on the show floor within a ‘grove’ of arched wooden forms resembling the vaults of a church. Presented by Hanart TZ Gallery.
Conversations

Taken place at the HKCEC from March 22–25, Conversations, curated by Stephanie Bailey, writer, editor, and Art Basel Content Advisor and Editor, Asia, creates a platform for dynamic dialogues between members of the international artworld, who offer their unique perspectives on producing, collecting and exhibiting art:
- The future of the biennale with Hoor Al Qasimi, Binna Choi, Shubigi Rao, ruangrupa, and Adeena Mey.
- Synergies between public and private patronage with Nadia and Rajeeb Samdani and Michael Govan.
- Navigating multipolarity from an institutional perspective with Philip Tinari, Mami Kataoka, Nikita Yingqian Cai, Aaron Cezar, Aya Al-Bakree and Christopher K. Ho.
- Reflections on solidarity beyond feminism with curators Mia Yu and Azar Mahmoudian and artists Jaffa Lam, Kresiah Mukwazhi, and Kawita Vatanajyankur.
- Representing contemporary art from Africa in Hong Kong with gallerists Baylon Sandri and Dolly Kola-Balogun and artists Wallen Mapondera and Victor Ehikhamenor.
- Exploring Cantopop’s influence in the work of Sin Wai Kin, Ming Wong, and Rainbow Chan.
Film
Curated by multi-media artist and film producer Li Zhenhua, the Film program features eight screenings and 29 video works by artists from across the globe, including Mónica de Miranda, Angela Su, Tromarama, and Shen Xin, among others. Videotage and Ghost 2565 two important non-profit organizations that focus on video art in the region will each curate a screening.
The Film program will launch with a special screening of ‘MEMORIA’ by Palme-D’or- winning director Apichatpong Weerasethakul at Theatre II, HKCEC on March 22. Set in Colombia, ‘MEMORIA’ is Weerasethakul’s first feature made outside Thailand. Starring Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, the special screening spotlights Weerasethakul’s achievements in his filmmaking career.
As part of the short film screenings, Ghost 2565 will present Weerasethakul’s contemporary art practice in the form of a short film on March 25 at Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre.
Kabinett
15 galleries participated in Kabinett, the sector for thematic solo presentations within galleries’ main booths, with a strong focus on Asia.
- A body of work illustrating research conducted between the mid-1950s to mid- 1960s by Art Informel master Hans Hartung. Presented by Mazzoleni.
- Works on paper by celebrated Indonesian artist Agus Suwage, entitled ‘Siraman Duniawi,’ that investigate multifarious notions of identity from the perspective of ancient Hindu-Buddhist culture. Presented by ROH Projects.
- The late Hong Kong ink artist Wesley Tongson’s spiritual journey and artistic path featuring the artist’s splash ink and monumental landscape paintings created with his hands, fingers, and nails, where he poured his bold and raw emotions directly on the paper – a form of liberation for Tongson. Presented by Galerie du Monde.
- Hu Qingyan’s ‘World of Silence,’ a series of marble works that continue the theme of ‘emptiness’ that the artist has been exploring in recent years. Presented by Galerie Urs Meile.
- A survey of works by Rasheed Araeen that spans from the artist’s early portraiture drawings to the minimalistic sculptures for which he is widely known. Presented by Rossi & Rossi.
- A selection of works by Martin Margiela, similar to those in his touring museum show now at the LOTTE Museum of Art in Seoul, including a torso sculpture and film dust painting. Presented by Zeno X Gallery.
Hu Qingyan, The World of Silence I, 2021, Marble 43 x 51 x 30 cm 16 15/16 x 20 1/16 x 11 13/16 inches
Art Basel Hong Kong / Post editorial
Location: Hong Kong
Duration: March 23- March 25, 2023