Masterpiece London Will Proceed With a Trimmed-Down Debut in Hong Kong Next Week Amid Continued Protests and Fears of Worse

Political tensions have been heightened in Hong Kong as China’s
National Day on October 1 draws closer, marking the 70th
anniversary of the People’s Republic, but organizers of the fall
season’s major art fairs and auctions opening in the city next week
remain confident in the city’s foreseeable future. Events are still
going ahead as planned—including the debut of the Masterpiece
London Art Fair’s official expansion to Asia—amid the ongoing
pro-democracy protests that has been gripping the city for nearly
four months, and which some fear could come to a dangerous
crescendo around National Day should China opt to make a show of
strength in the city.

But while Masterpiece is sticking with its plan to offer art,
furniture, and antiques as part of the Fine Art Asia fair (October
4-7), the London fair has decided to downsize the scale of its Hong
Kong presence from a “pavilion” to an “object-led” showcase amid
the political uncertainties.

“Originally we were going to bring 24 galleries with us, taking
up individual gallery stands within the pavilion,” Lucie Kitchener,
managing director of Masterpiece, told artnet News in Hong
Kong.

The collaboration between the London and Hong Kong fairs began
in June, when Fine Art Asia staged a pavilion at Masterpiece. The
plan was for Fine Art Asia to then play host to a Masterpiece
pavilion in October, but this August fair organizers opted to go a
more minimal route given the continued protests—with black-clad
demonstrators becoming a regular sight around the city—and the
violent clashes with police.

The situation may come to a head on October 1, when, to
celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic
of China, official government-run festivities will take place in
Wan Chai, the same district where all of the art events are set to
take place. Civil Human Rights Front, the group that
has organized peaceful protests attended by millions of people
over the past three months, has called for a massive rally on
National Day. The Hong Kong government has already scaled back
National Day celebration events, and has cancelled the city’s
annual October 1 fireworks in a bid to reduce tensions.

In addition to Fine Art Asia, which is holding its 13th edition
this year, the week will feature the major fall auctions at
Sotheby’s Hong Kong and the city’s China Guardian showroom,
although none of the sales are scheduled to fall on October 1.
(Sotheby’s sales will take place from October 3 to 8, while China
Guardian’s will run from October 5 to 8). All will be held in the
same convention center in Wan Chai where the official festivities
will have just ended.

The run-up to the fair has been “quite a daunting experience,”
Kitchener said, adding that she expects it to be stressful for her
colleagues and exhibitors as well. “Some of them have never been to
Hong Kong before. They’d think: ‘Is this even the right moment to
come to Hong Kong for the first time?’ Getting my team on the
plane, sending millions of dollars of artworks over here… it felt
more challenging in August.”

“But,” she continued. “we absolutely want to do this, and the
galleries are incredibly supportive. This showcase is about
responding to their commitment—that this is still the right thing
to do here.”

The result is a cross-disciplinary showcase of 35 artworks from
15 galleries that have been exhibiting at Masterpiece in London.
Some galleries already have a long-term connection with Fine Art
Asia, such as Michael Goedhuis, which will have a stand at Fine Art
Asia’s sister fair Ink Asia this year, and silverware specialist
Koopman Rare Art. Other galleries featured in this showcase include
Alessandro Di Castro and Valerie Turchi, which will be presenting
Greek and Roman antiquities and European decorative arts from the
18th century, respectively; Apter Fredericks and Ronald Phillips
will bring antique English furniture; Yufuku Gallery from
Japan will show works by emerging Japanese artists who have
inherited the tradition of Japanese Nihonga painting.

Kitchener said the showcase will give the audience a taste of
what the London fair feels like, and pave the way for an expansion
next year that is likely to realize the original pavilion plan.

“It’s the right way to make sure that we are here, that we are
supporting the market and we are supporting the galleries,” said
Kirchener. “Our presence is very important.”

Masterpiece, which was founded in 2008, had first announced its
plan to expand to Asia through a pop-up at Fine Art Asia in March,
after MCH Group Ltd. acquired a 67.5 percent stake in the company
that runs the fair in 2017. The addition of Masterpiece gives a
boost MCH’s portfolio of high-end collector events including the
Art Basel group (comprising fairs in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong
Kong), Design & Regional Art Fairs, the Grand Basel automobile
show, and the Baselworld watch expo.

Kitchener said it was only natural for Masterpiece to expand to
Asia, and not only because of the growing interest from buyers and
collectors across the region, particularly in Taiwan, Indonesia,
and Malaysia. Simply being part of the MCH family, which is
increasingly interested in Asia, makes the expansion seem
natural.

“We are sitting side by side” with Art Basel Hong Kong, she
said. “MCH is very committed in this region, and Art Basel has made
a strong contribution to the market here. Through Art Basel, MCH
has built a very good experience in this region and it is very
helpful for us.”

The post Masterpiece London Will Proceed With a Trimmed-Down Debut
in Hong Kong Next Week Amid Continued Protests and Fears of
Worse appeared first on artnet News.