Opinion | What Hong Kong’s protests mean for the city’s art market: an upsurge in creativity amid economic woes
- While professionals on the international circuit express concern about Hong Kong’s art market, the protests have generated a range of creative output
- How these art works can be preserved and how the creativity behind them can be channelled is worth considering
At the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC), the international contemporary art fair held in Paris in October, I was surprised to find Hong Kong being avidly discussed. Gallerists and collectors expressed concern over the ongoing protests.
I found myself at the receiving end of questions, ranging from the escalation of violence by both the police and protesters to why it took Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor months to withdraw the extradition bill that sparked the protests and why she has not addressed protesters’ other demands since then.
Another wondered what impact the protests would have on sales, given that the Asia Contemporary Art Show, one of the region’s longest-running hotel art fairs, had announced the cancellation of its spring 2020 edition amid a 40 per cent drop in attendance and a decline in sales during its October event.
