It’s no secret that 2024 was a challenging year for the global art market. Asia was hardly left unscathed. Across the continent, people described the mood as slightly muted due to high interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical tensions. Despite market woes, the region remains resilient with many reasons to be optimistic.
January started slowly, but spirits were high in March at Art Basel Hong Kong, which remains the region’s most important fair. Last month, Shanghai’s annual art season also generated significant buzz. There was also increased representation of Asian artists in global art fairs and institutions in the West. And this year saw strong museum exhibitions and biennales open across Asia.
In Southeast Asia, activities in Bangkok stood out. The Bangkok Art Biennale was a success, alongside the opening of collector Marisa Chearavanont’s Bangkok Kunsthalle, a new private institution that took over an abandoned printing house. For its inaugural show, Thai artist Korakrit Arunanondchai left the Brutalist space bare, enveloping it with a cinematic yellow haze instead. Like the fog that shrouded this space, a mist of uncertainty hung over the region, but shafts of light are continuing to pierce through. Below, ARTnews takes stock of Asia’s most important hubs: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and India.
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Mainland China Closes Its Wallet
Image Credit: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa/picture alliance via Getty I According to the 2024 Art Basel and UBS Art Survey of Global Collecting, high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) from Mainland China were the biggest spenders on art and antiques last year. They also spent the most in the first half of 2024, with a median of $97,000, more than double that of any other region. However, the ongoing crisis in the country’s property market and the slowing economy have meant many Chinese collectors have tightened their purse strings with summer in particular being a low point.
According to investment bank Nomura, consumer confidence in China plummeted and nearly hit an all-time historic low in July. Gallerists also noticed a visible drop in sales. “China’s economy hit a brick wall this past spring. Sales became noticeably difficult after Art Basel Hong Kong, and many clients expressed that they were having economic trouble,” said a Shanghai-based gallerist who asked for anonymity in order to speak candidly. Auction houses in Hong Kong also observed a decline in spending from mainland Chinese collectors.
Some believe the market is recalibrating. “November art week in Shanghai gave us fresh hope, and the mood was bright. Sales at [ART021] weren’t amazing, but it came as a happy reprieve to the lethargic past six months,” said Mathieu Borysevicz, founder of Shanghai-based gallery BANK.
Chairman of Phillips Asia Jonathan Crockett noted that mainland Chinese buying activity increased in their Hong Kong sales in November, offering “a glimmer of hope that China is on the rise again.”
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Major Auction Houses Open Headquarters in Hong Kong
Image Credit: Stefan Ruiz Major auction houses came into their own in Hong Kong, each inaugurating new headquarters, signaling the maturity of the market. Following Phillips’s 2023 opening in the West Kowloon Cultural District, Christie’s opened in the slick Zaha Hadid Architects–designed Henderson Building, and Sotheby’s launched a retail space in the nearby Landmark Chater, a luxury shopping mall. Meanwhile, Bonhams took up residence in an office building in the Admiralty district.
Previously, marquee sales in the city only took place in the spring and fall, but now the houses will host exhibitions and auctions throughout the year. While this offers collectors more opportunities, some think adjusting to a denser sale calendar may take time.
Despite the excitement surrounding the openings, the houses still struggled, with buyers being more cautious than in years past. According to research group ArtTactic, sales of art in Hong Kong evening sales dropped 40 percent by value in the first six months of 2024 compared with a year earlier, dipping to their lowest level since 2017.
“The middle market is doing well, but it’s been difficult to sell things of substantial value in the USD 5 million and above range,” said an Asia-based auction house specialist who declined to be named. “It’s going to be tough for the houses to source high-value property for the spring sales next year.”
Like many others, art adviser Yuki Terase, founding partner of Art Intelligence Global (AIG), affirmed Hong Kong’s growing importance. However, she also believes if quality work doesn’t appear on the block, collectors will turn to New York sales instead. “As the market recalibrates, it is important to insist on bringing top quality works and robust programming to Asia in order to keep up the region’s status vis-à-vis the global context,” she said. -
Japan Fair Breaks the Mold
Image Credit: Moriya Yuki/Courtesy ACK It’s not often that an art fair wins the hearts of collectors, journalists, and gallerists alike, but Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK) has managed to do this. Now in its fourth edition, ACK is a breath of fresh air in a crowded landscape of cookie-cutter art fairs.
“People are getting tired of fairs and becoming more selective. They are looking for more uniqueness. The host city must also have other attractions, and Kyoto has that,” said Tokutaro Yamauchi, director of Kyoto-based Shibunkaku.
The intimately scaled fair in the historic city has a unique model in which a Japanese gallery hosts a foreign gallery, allowing for intercultural dialogue and unexpected discoveries. Exhibitions scattered across ancient temples in the city are another draw.
After ACK, many fairgoers travelled to Art Week Tokyo, a city-wide event organized by Japan Contemporary Art Platform in collaboration with Art Basel. Last year’s edition attracted more than 43,000 visitors, and this year’s numbers were even higher, with many more VIPs flying into the city.
The sophomore edition of Tokyo Gendai, which took place in the summer, was also well attended. The fair organizers announced that it will be held in September next year in the hopes that cooler fall weather will attract more international visitors.
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Polarizing Views of South Korea
Image Credit: Courtesy Kiaf Seoul 2024 Seoul came alive in September as collectors from across Asia attended Frieze Seoul and the Korea International Art Fair (KIAF). This year marked the launch of thegovernment-led Korea Art Festival (KAF), which connected both art fairs with other major art events in the country, such as the Busan Biennale and the Gwangju Biennale. Alongside the large number of collectors who flew in for the fairs, there was a notable increase in curators and museum groups this year.
While the mood was upbeat, gallerists reported moderate sales at Frieze Seoul and KIAF. Some believe there is waning interest in the city as an art hub. There was a slight decrease in foreign galleries at Frieze Seoul, with the total number of exhibitors dropping from 121 in 2023 to 117 this year. One international gallerist who asked not to be named said, “In this country, I don’t think we’ll ever do as well as we do at Art Basel in Hong Kong.”Collectors had mixed views. Some were excited about the city’s prospects as an art hub, while others were less enthused. “Korea is one of the most overrated new markets in Asia,” said Belgian collector Alain Servais, who described the art he saw at the fairs as relatively conservative.
On the other hand, Korean institutions mounted some impressive shows. The Leeum Museum of Art, for instance, had a mesmerizing solo show of Korean American artist Anicka Yi’s work. Highlights included her iconic glowing kelp pods and eerie multi-tentacled mechanical sculptures. Meanwhile, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) provided a much-needed platform for overlooked regional talent in the comprehensive show “Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists,” which highlighted various thematic affinities in the work of women artists working in Asia since the 1960s.
Overall, Seoul’s art scene remains vibrant. Young Korean collector Noh Jae-myung also launched a new independent fair, Art OnO, in April, which was very well attended and included international exhibitors like Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, which has locations in Chicago, Paris, and Mexico City.
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Indian Market Seizes Global Attention
Image Credit: L.N. Tallur The Indian art scene is in the throes of a renaissance as the economy continues to show strong momentum. Since Covid, there has been a rapid rise in art consumption in the subcontinent. According to the UBS collector survey, there has been a surge in wealth in India, up 41 percent to $954 billion compared to last year, creating 31 more billionaires over the year to reach 200. The purchasing power of the Indian diaspora is also rising.
In February, the 15th edition of the India Art Fair (IAF) had solid sales, increased exhibitors, and it reported a 30-percent increase in visitors on the VIP day. Meanwhile, the second edition of Art Mumbai, held last month, was also bustling. (IAF announced plans to mount a rival fair in Mumbai in 2025, but scrapped those after the success of Art Mumbai.)
A growing number of private institutions are cropping up across the country. Collector Sangita Jindal and her daughter Tarini Jindal Handa opened Hampi Art Lab in Karnataka in February. Located near the ruins of the ancient city of Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the sinuous, terracotta-clad building will host ambitious exhibitions and an artist residency program.
Last month, the Jaipur Centre for Art (JCA) also opened in the historic City Palace. The brainchild of Maharaja Padmanabh Singh, a descendant of Jaipur’s royal family, and contemporary arts specialist Noelle Kadar, the spaceaims to position the picturesque Pink City as a key art hub in the country.
Kadar says the idea for JCA has been years in the making. “We all believe now is the right time,” she said, referring to growing appetite for contemporary art across the country. “The global community is also ready to engage with India in a way that it wasn’t previously ready to do.”
