Claudia Albertini on Hong Kong
Currently she is Senior Director at MASSIMODECARLO, she joined the company in 2016 when the Hong Kong outpost inaugurated. Claudia sits on the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association board member as Treasurer and is a Founding Patron of M+ Museum.
Claudia Albertini
MASSIMODECARLO opened its doors to the public on March 2016. Can you tell us about the art scene and the atmosphere in Hong Kong at that time?
In January 2018 H Queen Building opens its door to a wide group of important galleries. At the end of 2019 the outbreak of the pandemic closed down the city and isolated it from the rest of the world for nearly two years. How has the contemporary art scene reacted to this situation, what is the new Hong Kong like?
Hong Kong has gone through very difficult years, nonetheless the city has stood up straight even in the most adverse times. Hong Kong is now different from what it was pre Covid, but differently doesn’t necessarily mean negatively. The energy within the city and its inhabitants is admirable, no matter the restrictions, the harsh quarantine rules, the temporary closure to the outside world, the city has never stopped. Hong Kong never sleeps, and that has proven right. The financial hub is still operating in full force and so has the art scene. M+ Museum has opened against all odds and Art Basel Hong Kong is soon opening its 2022 edition.
The edition of Art Basel on 27-29 May 2022 is taking place in a different Hong Kong, has the fair that taken on a “more regional” character, aimed mainly at Asian collectors or do you think Art Basel HK can still attract a wide international audience?
Indeed the fair has taken on a new shape, a very good Asian presence, with more space for exhibitors from the region, but also a remarkable international attendance which is to reconfirm its global outreach. Art collectors nowadays can reach art no matter where that is. The difficulty to enter Hong Kong is of course an obstacle, but not for those savvy collectors who are still in awe of art.
Probably Art Basel Hong Kong will be a different fair moving forward, but again, this is not a bad thing, actually it is probably good for it to have a more Asian focus as to diversify from the rest and offer a different platform to both its audience and exhibitors.
What will you be showing during ABHK and which are your plans for the future? Will you participate in Frieze Seoul and will the Korean city become the new hub for contemporary art in Asia after HK?
On the occasion of Art Basel Hong Kong 2022 MASSIMODECARLO will be premiering a series of new artworks by an exceptionally wide selection from the gallery roster. This collective display focuses on a plurality of media and creative directions with the intention of promoting the different voices of contemporary art. Among the exhibiting artists, the gallery will be showing John Armleder, Aaron Garber-Maikovska, Lenz Geerk, Jenna Gribbon, Jennifer Guidi, Lee Kit, Tony Lewis, Liu Xiaodong, Yan Pei-Ming and Sanford Biggers whose solo exhibition “The Extinction Agenda” is currently on view at the gallery in Hong Kong. The gallery will also take part in Frieze Seoul this year. I don’t think Seoul will replace Hong Kong by any means, but it will surely offer an alternative.
