Art Basel lands in Hong Kong for the Asian tentpole’s 13th edition, with plenty of booths, partnerships, and auctions to take note of.
Fashion month and awards season may have drawn to a close, but the global cultural calendar churns on. Up next? Art Basel Hong Kong, which takes up its annual residence in the city from March 27 to 29, with VIP previews on March 25 and 26.
Now in its 13th edition, Art Basel Hong Kong is the Asian tentpole event for both the global art fair brand and the regional art scene. This year’s iteration will see 240 galleries — over half of which operate physical spaces across the Asia-Pacific — gather in the city’s Exhibition and Convention Center. Despite remaining a fixture of the global art calendar, the 2026 edition opens amid a host of tectonic shifts. Within the Art Basel ecosystem itself, the years since the pandemic have brought significant expansion, primarily in the form of two new fairs: a Paris edition, the fifth of which will take place at the Grand Palais in October; and a Qatar edition, which debuted this February. The rapid growth has arguably triggered a localization effect, in terms of the audiences and the galleries present. “As Art Basel expands, each fair becomes more regionally focused, and attending each one feels less urgent and feasible,” argues Kabir Jhala, The Art Newspaper’s art market editor. “Besides the Avant-Première at Art Basel Paris, I’d argue there is no longer a must-attend moment for major collectors in the Basel portfolio. I think the fair’s audience is going to be much less international than 10 years ago.” There is also the ongoing geopolitical crisis in the Middle East. While the effects won’t be quite as direct as if it were, say, Art Basel Qatar, travel restrictions across the Gulf’s major transit hubs and spiraling fuel costs could pose notable obstacles for more price-sensitive attendees and exhibitors, particularly those traveling from Europe and the MENASA region. Another potential area of impact is shipping — the art trade is, of course, an economy of things, and Hong Kong’s leading status within it is largely owed to its free-trade credentials. Still, for all the trepidation around it, Art Basel Hong Kong remains “the premier fair in Asia”, Jhala says. “Hong Kong is still the only city in Asia to have no import taxes, a central location — every major financial hub in Asia is a four-hour flight away — and now a world-class museum and selection of galleries,” he adds. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong. Upswings and uncertainties According to the 2026 Art Basel & UBS Art Market report, 2025 saw a return to growth for the global art market, with the total value of sales increasing 4% year-on-year to reach an estimated $59.6 billion. After two consecutive years of decline, the figures seem to vindicate the optimism attested across fairs and auctions last year. Closer analysis, though, reveals a more muddled picture. Growth was largely driven by sales at public auction — where a 9% revenue increase was reported — particularly at the higher end of the market. Perhaps, the greatest testament to this is the widely publicized hammer price of Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer at Sotheby’s inaugural sale in its New York HQ: $236.4 million, making it the second highest price for an artwork ever achieved at auction. Gallery sales are said to have grown by a comparatively modest 2%, largely spurred by double-digit upticks at galleries reporting annual turnovers of less than $500,000, per the report. While the worst appears to have passed, Jhala notes, a sense of anxiety persists. “The market is more cautious and conservative. Classic taste and established names will dominate the fair,” he says. The glut of headline-grabbing, big-ticket sales at auctions in London so far this year foreshadow this — Sotheby’s in Mayfair, for example, reported takings of $175 million in a single evening across 54 lots. As for the Middle East crisis, while tracing the future contours of the conflict is impossible, signs of impact — from a downtick in traveling collectors and exhibitors, to potential spikes in shipping and energy costs — are unfolding in real time. “At this stage, we are fully confident that Art Basel Hong Kong will proceed as planned,” Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel’s chief artistic officer, says. “We continue to monitor the situation closely, particularly with regard to any potential impact on our teams, galleries, and visitors across the locations in which we operate.” Hong Kong as a gateway On the ground in Hong Kong, this year’s edition “reflects a positive shift in sentiment”, says Lihsin Tsai, Hauser & Wirth’s senior director and Asia head of sales. “Over recent editions, Art Basel Hong Kong has expanded in breadth, drawing serious collectors not only from Hong Kong and Mainland China, but also from Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and beyond. We’re also seeing a growing number of new collectors from the tech sector, alongside cross-border buyers, while international collectors with Asian heritage are increasingly active.” “Art Basel Hong Kong remains the leading gateway to the Asia-Pacific art scene within ecosystem,” de Bellis adds. “What has evolved is the depth of that role: the fair not only brings international galleries and audiences to the region, but it increasingly reflects the dynamism and diversity of the artistic practices emerging across Asia.” This reported shift arrives off the back of a quandary for Hong Kong’s art scene. The city has witnessed a reported flight of artists due to its notoriously high cost of living and government crackdowns on freedom of speech, while its status as a hub for international rather than domestic trade has exposed it to the consequences of geopolitical and macroeconomic phenomena, like the decline in Japanese foreign spending due to a weak yen. What’s more, recent years have also seen some of the city’s major international galleries close shop — Blum, Pace, and Perrotin among them — dampening morale. Still, there’s a case to be made that these are markers of transition and consolidation, rather than the market’s outright decline. “After two decades of explosive growth, the Chinese market is in a new phase,” Jhala says. “The ceiling has been established, and left are more deliberate and focused on strategic collection-building.” Tsai agrees: “Collectors are engaging more deeply, and it’s inspiring to see the level of curiosity continue to develop. Collectors are taking a selective, long-term approach to acquisitions. Conversations are thoughtful, decisions are deliberate, and the market feels increasingly stable and sustainable.” So how is this sensibility playing out at the Exhibition and Convention Center? Well, a crude-but-true trend to highlight is that the bigger the booth, the bigger the names. Take Hauser & Wirth’s as a case in point: the mega-gallery will present works by Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, George Condo, and Louise Bourgeois. David Zwirner will showcase a series of paintings by American abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell, as well as ’00s figurative works by Marlene Dumas , and historic and recent works by Gerhard Richter, a household name. Elsewhere, some of the more eye-catching presentations include those from London galleries Phillida Reid and Herald Street — the former, an installation by Cayetano Ferrer, transforming AI hallucinations of museum objects into carved stone relics; the latter, a solo booth of Sang Woo Kim’s textural, fragmented self-portraits. Jakarta’s ROH will present a series of Manila-based artist Maria Taniguchi’s minimalist paintings, while Paris-based Galerie Chantal Crousel’s booth will include works by Mimosa Echard, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. This edition also introduces two new sectors: Echoes, spotlighting ultra-contemporary works produced within the last five years; and Zero 10, dedicated to digital works, which debuted at the Miami Beach fair in December. “The Asia debut of Zero 10 signals where the fair is headed, by embracing new formats, new technologies, and new audiences,” says Art Basel Hong Kong director Angelle Siyang-Le. “It feels very true to Hong Kong’s spirit.” That’s not to say this enthusiasm is unanimous, particularly in the wake of a deflated NFT market. “I’m curious to see the attendance and performance of Zero 10 after its Miami debut,” Jhala adds. “It’s still unclear if incorporating digital and blockchain-based art into a legacy fine art fair can attract new audiences or lure existing ones into new avenues of collecting.” Partnerships The art fair’s appeal as a desirable context for brand activations doesn’t need much underscoring. What makes Hong Kong distinct in this respect, though, is its range of partners. Traditional luxury players have an expectedly strong footprint. This year, Audemars Piguet is returning as an associate partner, while Zegna comes back as an official partner. The most significant luxury brand activation is from Louis Vuitton, with the French house mounting a retrospective booth celebrating over two decades of collaboration with esteemed architect Frank Gehry. Across a series of chronologically arranged artworks and maquettes, the exhibition will highlight Gehry’s architectural work for the house — including the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul — handbag designs, and even a reinterpretation of the brand’s iconic trunk. It is, as the architect shares exclusively with Vogue Business, a testament to “the belief over the years that, if you keep asking questions, then you find answers. But the most important thing ever is to be curious.” An additional partnership of intrigue is with furniture and design fair Salone del Mobile. Another debut from Art Basel Miami Beach, the freshly inked three-year partnership will see the Milanese fair curate the furniture for Art Basel’s global Collector’s Lounge. Beyond luxury players, this year’s fair will also feature major activations in partnership with sport and lifestyle names. Running brand Hoka will debut at the fair, presenting its multi-sensory Runners High installation, devised in collaboration with Hong Kong artist Phoebe Hui, while Ray-Ban will launch a lounge area. Elsewhere, Chinese contemporary fashion brand JNBY will design Art Basel’s official uniforms and merch, which will be available to purchase at the Art Basel Shop . It all makes for a partnership landscape that feels notably more eclectic and varied than most major art fairs, which, as de Bellis flags, is the intention. “Our partnerships are always developed with careful consideration of the cultural context of each city. In Hong Kong, we see particularly strong resonance between contemporary art and sectors such as design, sport, technology, and lifestyle,” he says. “Each Art Basel fair responds to its local ecosystem, but the guiding principle is always the same: to create meaningful collaborations that support the fair’s cultural program and resonate with the audiences of that city.” “This year, the way we are expanding our ecosystem through new partnerships — cultural and commercial — opens the fair to wider communities,” adds Siyang-Le, highlighting a collaboration with the Hong Kong Ballet, as well as an expansion of the fair’s Encounters section beyond the fair’s Wan Chai home. In partnership with Swire Properties, one of Hong Kong’s major property developers and owners, Pacific Place — a high-end retail and lifestyle hub in Admiralty — will host a large-scale installation by sound artist Christine Sun Kim. “Her offsite installation at Pacific Place is something I can’t wait for,” Siyang-Le says. “Bringing large‑scale, thoughtful work into a public space creates a moment of engagement for people who may not be planning to visit the fair. It’s a reminder that Art Basel Hong Kong isn’t confined to the exhibition halls — it’s woven into the city itself.” Beyond the booths As is the case in Paris or Miami, Art Basel’s arrival in Hong Kong prompts a host of parallel events, openings, and activations. This includes Art Central and Pavilion, two separate fairs spotlighting emerging galleries and artists, which will run alongside Art Basel, while Hauser & Wirth, David Zwirner, Gagosian, and White Cube are each among the international blue-chip galleries opening their spring exhibitions at their Hong Kong spaces while audiences are in town. Para Site, a revered institution and project space in the east of Hong Kong Island, will celebrate 30 years as a steering force in the city’s art scene. To toast, it is staging a three-month exhibition, starting March 14, which will revisit the themes broached in Para Site’s very first show. Another celebration, Asia Art Archive’s 25th-anniversary exhibition asks artists, including Ho Tzu Nyen and Tehching Hsieh: “What were you doing when you were 25?” Tai Kwun, a cultural center housed in a former police station and prison complex, will host a performance art program in collaboration with Art Basel — as well as extended hours for its current show, an artistic survey of China’s development into a global production and logistics hub. And M+, Hong Kong’s mammoth art and design museum, which opened its doors in 2021, will host a slate of blockbuster shows throughout the week, including major solo exhibitions by Lee Bul, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Robert Rauschenberg. Major sales by global auction houses are also among the week’s highlights. From March 27 to 28, Christie’s, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Asia, will put works by Richter, Claude Monet, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Chu Teh-Chun under the hammer. Following a record-breaking clean sweep in London, Sotheby’s will present a series of modern and contemporary masterworks — a Mark Rothko, a Keith Haring, and two Yayoi Kusamas among them — on March 29 and 30. Phillips will also stage a modern and contemporary art sale on March 29. Plus, in a testament to the growing appeal of luxury at auction, it’ll also hold a major jewelry sale the following day, with Art Deco Cartier bracelets and ’80s Bvlgari chokers among the top lots. Beyond the heritage auction houses, Joopiter — founded by Pharrell Williams — has teamed up with Sat Hari and Brad Pitt’s luxury knitwear label God’s True Cashmere on a sale of artist-edition baseball caps . While large-scale luxury brand activations are relatively absent from this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong, a number of the city’s world-leading hospitality players are staging impressive activations. The Peninsula, Hong Kong’s grande dame hotel, will mount its yearly “Art in Resonance” program, in partnership with London’s V&A Museum, showcasing a series of specially commissioned works. Terrace Boulud by Mandarin Oriental at Landmark Prince’s will host a week-long dining concept by fashion favorites We Are Ona, featuring a tablescape designed by artist and photographer Lea Colombo, while American Thai luxury brand Philip Huang will curate a week-long talks program with artists and collaborators at The Upper House. With the schedule looking like it is, an extra night’s stay to come down from the buzz is well recommended — take it from us.
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