Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 better than ever, promises director – themes include East vs West, and focus is on young people with spending power

The fair’s focus will be on young people who are ‘now taking power’ and educating older generations on how to collect art, says Angelle Siyang-Le, its director

More than half of the 243 galleries attending have homes in Asia, while 11 of the large-scale artworks are newly created for the event

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A visitor takes a selfie in front of “August 27, 1979 (The Topsy-Turvy Economy),” (2022) at Art Basel Hong Kong 2023. The 2024 fair will focus on young people with spending power, with another theme being dialogue and tension between East and West. Photo: Elson Li

Published: 4:15pm, 28 Feb 2024Updated: 4:20pm, 28 Feb 2024

Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 is set to see gallery attendance return to pre-pandemic levels, with more young collectors expected to descend on the city’s biggest international art fair in March.

The number of galleries attending this year’s edition stands at 243, up from 177 in 2023 and 130 the year before. The fair was cancelled in 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions.

According to Angelle Siyang-Le, the director of Art Basel Hong Kong, the local edition draws greater art-collecting interest from young people than the fairs in Basel, Switzerland; Miami in the US; and Paris in France.

“For the younger generation, I can only speak for Asia, they now have the spending power. The younger generation is now taking power, either in family businesses or by setting up their own businesses,” she says.

Visitors admire “A Boy and Someone from Nowhere” by Gongkan at Art Basel Hong Kong in 2022. Photo: Nora Tam

“They are also educating the older generation, their parents, who probably collected san shui [landscape paintings] or ink and antiquities, about how to collect art. This is a phenomenon especially true for Asia, that the younger generation is becoming more dominant, at least when it comes to art collection.”