The Best Things to See During Hong Kong’s Arts Month

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Staff Writer

Published

6 March 2019

The Best Things to See During Hong Kong’s Arts Month

From Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Central to local neighbourhood exhibitions, tours and street performances, during the month of March Hong Kong will showcase the destination’s wide cultural diversity across all the arts. Here are a few must-sees for those heading to Asia’s World City this month…

Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Central

Now in its seventh year, Art Basel Hong Kong will be hosting a massive exhibition at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 29th to 31st March. With pieces from 36 countries and over 242 galleries, the exhibition will feature both historical material and cutting-edge works by established and emerging artists from the premier galleries from Asia and beyond. The art gallery is designed to be a visual masterpiece and provide an in-depth overview of the region’s diversity.

Art Central 2019, meanwhile, will take place from 27th to 31 March 2019 and boast over 100 galleries and art works from from 22 countries. The fair will feature a critically acclaimed five-day program including performance art, large scale installations and talks by some of the leading names in contemporary art today.

Xiqu Centre

In recent months Hong Kong has seen a surge of cultural hubs emerge across the city, including the impressive Xique Centre, which opened in January of this year and is the first venue in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The venue is dedicated to the preservation of traditional Cantonese opera and various shows will take place throughout March.

The architectural design of the building was inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns and merges both traditional and modern design elements, making the building a work of art in itself. The main entrance is shaped to resemble parted stage curtains, and from there visitors are led directly into a lively atrium with a raised podium where Chinese traditional theatre performances take place.

The Mills

An innovative and cultural hub, The Mills is a 1950s textile-factory-turned-art-museum. Located in Tsuen Wan, previously a major industrial area and now a popular residential suburb, The Mills celebrates the golden days of Hong Kong’s textile industry and carries on the legacy by nurturing the city’s creative talents.

The Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT), which is set to officially open in March, provides an opportunity for visitors to learn about the history of Hong Kong’s textile industry and the current local and global textile arts landscape – including the traditional cotton-spinning process. The exhibition Unfolding: Fabric of Our Life starts on 16th March 2019 and runs until the end of June 2019.

Tai Kwun

A heritage site and one of the largest revitalisation projects in the Hong Kong to date (it took a decade and HK$3.8 billion to complete), Tai Kwun houses a world-standard contemporary art museum and three iconic monuments along with some of Hong Kong’s chicest restaurants and boutiques. During Hong Kong Arts Month visitors can enjoy free site-specific performances, urban dance battles, community and contemporary dance, workshops and screenings in the HKArtsFestival@TaiKwun program over two weekends (2nd to 10th March 2019).

Walkable, Living Galleries

Beyond the galleries and exhibitions of Hong Kong taking place throughout March, visitors will also find art spread into the corners of most neighbourhoods, creating a series of living “street art museums”. Take a stroll through Central, Sheung Wan or the latest “ARTLANE” in the hipster Sai Ying Pun area, where local and overseas artists have turned walls and staircases into their canvases to create unique pieces of art. “Shutter Art” has also become popular around Hong Kong, painted by young local artists under an initiative aptly called “HK Urban Canvas”. The artwork depicts the unique personalities and stories behind local shops.

Hong Kong Arts Festival

For a more sensory stimulation, explore the variety of performing arts events taking place around Hong Kong, the most notable of which is the Hong Kong Arts Festival. With a history of over four decades, this year’s event will feature 166 performances and more than 300 activities by over 1,700 artists from around the world during the 31-day-long festival, taking place in 2019 from 21st February to 23rd March.