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 (where you’ll also find a limited-edition Art Basel Hong Kong Labubu created by Kasing Lung, as well as pieces from Marc Jacobs’s Joy line featuring artists Derrick Adams, David Shrigley, and Hattie Stewart).
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.
