The 2020 fair will feature 11 first-time participants; many hail from Europe and the U.S., including Germany’s Konrad Fischer Galerie, New York’s David Lewis,
Jessica Silverman Gallery of San Francisco, Los Angeles’s Park View / Paul Soto, London gallery Southard Reid, and Zurich’s Galerie Gregor Staiger. A handful of galleries will also make their return to Art Basel in Hong Kong following a hiatus, including
Marlborough and Galerie Eva Presenhuber.
In its announcement, Art Basel noted that half of the exhibiting galleries now have locations in Asia and the Asia Pacific area, reflecting the region’s increasing indispensability for galleries looking to do business globally. According to the most recent edition of economist Clare McAndrew’s Art Market Report, China accounted for 19 percent of the global art trade in 2018, trailing only the U.S. and U.K.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Art Basel, and as such it will present specially curated projects at each of its three major fairs, overseen by German curator Kasper König. In Hong Kong, the 50th anniversary presentation will be curated by Christina Li, who curated Hong Kong’s presentation at this year’s Venice Biennale.
Art Basel’s golden jubilee celebrations coincide with some major restructuring by its parent company, MCH Group, which over the past year has
scuttled its plan to build up its portfolio of regional fairs, and has recently considered
selling off its marketing branch. In the summer of 2018 the CEO of MCH Group, René Kamm,
resigned amid turmoil at another of the company’s signature expos, the Baselworld watch and jewelry fair.
A full list of the galleries participating in the 2020 edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong is available
here. The fair will run March 19 to 21, 2020, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.