Hong Kong Art Gallery Week Debuts This November

Art festival kicks off with talks, tours and exhibitions held across the city

Hong Kong, [29 October 2013] – The Hong Kong Art Gallery Association today announces the launch of its inaugural Hong Kong Art Gallery Week sponsored by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Private Banking, bringing together a series of art events taking place city-wide from Wednesday, 20 November to Thursday, 28 November, 2013.

Orchestrated collaboratively among members of the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association, Hong Kong Art Gallery Week will be an annual art event and is set to become a key highlight in the Hong Kong art calendar.

The Hong Kong Art Gallery Week will aim to open up the city’s art spaces to host a series of events open to the public including art talks, curated art walks and exclusive artists’ studio visits among others. The events will take place city-wide from Island South Art District to Kwai Chung.

Today, Hong Kong is a major art hub. The city is the third largest auction art market in the world, and the first edition of Art Basel Hong Kong in May finished with great reception along with an expanding army of smaller fairs. Yet arguably, the art gallery scene in Hong Kong is still limited to a selected crowd. The culture of gallery hopping that prevails in other major art capitals, such as New York, Berlin and Beijing, still lacks its presence in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Art Gallery Week is launched with the vision to bring this gallery hopping culture to Hong Kong, and to deliver to the city a festival that will be dually enjoyed by the local public and visiting collectors from abroad.

“Galleries form an important role in nurturing artists, but very few members of the public visit galleries to see shows. We aspire to building a festival filled with art activities for everyone to enjoy, and fostering a culture of gallery hopping in Hong Kong. To be a creative art hub, instilling an affinity for art and establishing a local art culture is important,” commented Henrietta Tsui, founder and co-president of the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association, who has been instrumental in leading a sub-committee team consisting of art gallery professionals to drive the inception of the Hong Kong Art Gallery Week.

Hong Kong Art Gallery Week aims to provide a platform for galleries in Hong Kong to share their expertise on contemporary art. Every year it will present events with a selected geographic focus, this year being China. Through visits to iconic contemporary Chinese artists’ studios, roundtable discussions featuring leading Chinese art critics and curators and collector sharing sessions, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding and holistic view of the contemporary Chinese art scene to date. The events are catered for art collectors and professionals, as well as the general public and students. Events are all free of charge to attract a wide audience; a formal program and registration will be announced soon.

Hong Kong Art Gallery Week will commence with an opening celebration on Tuesday, 19 November, 2013 (by invitation only). The official events open to public will open from Wednesday, 20 November and a closing party will be held on Thursday, 28 November, 2013 in celebration of the event.

Key dates:

• Hong Kong Art Gallery Week: Wednesday, 20 November to Thursday, 28 November, 2013

• Opening Party: Tuesday, 19 November, 2013; further details to be announced

• Closing Party: Thursday, 28 November, 2013; further details to be announced

Event website: www.hk-aga.org

About Hong Kong Art Gallery Association

Founded in 2012, the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association is a member based non-profit organisation of established art galleries in Hong Kong. Working on behalf of members, its mission is to advance the Hong Kong art gallery community by providing one voice to its members, reaching out to the local and international art community, and helping deepen market knowledge and best practices amongst its members. www.hk-aga.org

About Bank of China (Hong Kong) Private Banking

Leveraging on its strong foundation as a leading commercial banking group in Hong Kong, Bank of China (Hong Kong) (“BOCHK”) launched its Private Banking Service in 2012. Backed by its Corporate Banking and Personal Banking divisions, BOCHK Private Banking offers an integrated platform with its “1+1+1” service model to provide a total solution to cater for the personal, family and business needs of clients. It also offers a one-stop wealth management solution that covers investment advisory, fiduciary consultancy, trust, estate planning, transactional and corporate banking services. By capitalising on its unique competitive edge in RMB business and strong support from its parent company, Bank of China, BOCHK has developed a comprehensive range of cross-border products and services to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of clients. For more information, please visit www.bochk.com