As the sole host of Art Basel in Asia, Hong Kong has solidified its position as among the most significant art trading and cultural arts hubs emerging in the art world. As such, overseas artists often hold art exhibitions in the city, along with the local art scene also budding. Here are the best art exhibits in Hong Kong we recommend you visit, ranging from virtual reality and interactive to thematic and graffiti displays.
A Path to Glory — Jin Yong’s Centennial Memorial
This year marks the centenary of the birth of Jin Yong (Dr Louis Cha), a literary giant in Chinese literature. This memorial event pays tribute to the master of martial arts fiction. Apart from the exhibition at Edinburgh Place, ‘Sculpted by Ren Zhe’ will present 22 sculptures of Jin Yong’s iconic characters created by Ren Zhe, as well as the artist’s sculpture manuscripts, from March 16 onwards at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
When: March 15-July 2, 2024
Where: Edinburgh Place, Central
Tickets: Free admission
CHAT 5th Anniversary – Factory of Tomorrow
The Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) celebrates its fifth anniversary with a group exhibition that endeavours to critically examine the past and evoke imagination for what is to come. From textile works and sculptures to immersive installations and videos, it brings together creations by 19 artists and collectives of Asian backgrounds, reflecting their takes on textile technology and materials, diversity, climate change and our future.
When: March 16-July 14, 2024
Where: The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par Street, Tsuen Wan
Tickets: Free admission
Another Day in Hong Kong
Through archives, personal memories, imagination, as well as artistic interventions, this exhibition aims to trigger fresh perspectives on art and history, allowing us to get closer to this one day in Hong Kong: October 19, 1996. The show is inspired by Oscar Ho’s ‘One Day in Hong Kong’exhibition in 1990, which collected photographs taken by Hong Kong citizens on September 7 of that year.
When: March 18-August 31, 2024
Where: Asia Art Archive, 11/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan
Tickets: Free admission
People Mountain People Sea by Gary Card
British artist Gary Card has transformed the century-old Oi! Warehouses into a contemporary multimedia art space, using animation and sound to draw the audience into an immersive visual and sensory experience. This is Card’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong, which also includes the large-scale outdoor sculpture, ‘The Dream of Mr. Somebody’ on display at Oi! Lawn.
When: March 20-July 28, 2024
Where: Oi! Warehouse 1 & 2, 12 Oil Street, North Point
Tickets: Free admission
encounters: oi! oi! oi!
This exhibition is a collaboration between renowned composer Fung Lam and four artists — Louis Siu, Chan Wai-lap, Cam Wong, and Simo Tse — and explores possibilities in shaping soundscapes. Drawing inspirations from often-overlooked sounds and objects, they combined disassembled parts of percussion instruments and mechanical devices to create sound art works that produce echoes, guiding visitors to rediscover the forgotten sounds from their daily lives and embark on a multisensory journey within the bustling city.
When: March 20-August 11, 2024
Where: Oi! Glassie, 12 Oil Street, North Point
Tickets: Free admission
YUAN MING YUAN — Art and Culture of an Imperial Garden-Palace
An exhibition that sheds new light on Yuanming yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness) by featuring over 190 paintings, architectural models, and other works associated with this once-magnificent Qing dynasty imperial garden-palace, which served as the principal residence of five Qing emperors.
When: March 20-August 12, 2024
Where: Gallery 8, Hong Kong Palace Museum, 8 Museum Drive West Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tickets: From HK$60. Buy tickets on Klook.
The Ancient Civilisation of the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties in Henan Province
This exhibition showcases cultural relics of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, including over 150 pieces comprising large and complete sets of bronze ware, jade ware, potteries, bone ware and oracle bones, from the collections of the Henan Museum, as well as a dozen other museums and cultural institutions in the province.
When: April 3-July 8, 2024
Where: Hong Kong Museum of History, 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tickets: Free admission
Naked Flowers
The renowned Naked Flowers interactive exhibition will be on view in Hong Kong for the first time, giving visitors the chance to participate in a multisensory experience where they can “learn the secrets of flowers”. There will be eight flower-themed digital art rooms, which include a life-size book and a cherry tree-centric room with projection mapping, a flower path with scattered petals, and a kaleidoscope-like space with mirrors.
When: April 27-October 27, 2024
Where: G17B & Basement, 1881 Heritage, 2A, East Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tickets: From HK$120. Buy tickets on Trip.com.
Bruce Nauman
Visit Tai Kwun Contemporary for Bruce Nauman’s first major exhibition in Hong Kong from now until August. Featuring 35 works from his six-decade career, the exhibition highlights Nauman’s impact on contemporary art through sculpture, video, neon, and more. Recognised as an “Artist’s Artist,” Nauman’s art bridges post-minimalism to performance and conceptual art that have inspired generations.
When: May 15 – August 18, 2024
Where: JC Contemporary and F Hall Gallery, Tai Kwun, Central
Tickets: From HK$120. Buy tickets on Klook
Love in the Light
This light art exhibition takes visitors to the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex on a journey through time. The display will see the historic arched verandahs of the Old Mental Hospital lit up in an array of colours every day, in time to music. Visitors can also stroll under the arches accompanied by cartoon versions of the famed shop cats of Sai Ying Pun, courtesy augmented reality.
When: 6pm-10pm, May 22-May 21, 2025
Where: Sai Ying Pun Community Complex, 2 High Street, Sai Ying Pun
Tickets: Free admission
Harmony of Rites and Music: Exploring the Qilu Culture through Shandong Relics
As part of this exhibition, there are 60 sets (about 200 items) of fine artefacts from Shandong on display for the first time in Hong Kong. Highlight exhibits include the “eggshell black pottery high stem cup with perforations” that represents the pinnacle of Chinese prehistoric pottery craftsmanship, and the “white pottery tripod ‘he’ wine vessel” solely used by nobles in the Neolithic period. There are also significant artefacts unearthed in Hong Kong on display, such as a yazhang-tablet and stone yue-axe.
When: May 28-October 6, 2024
Where: Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre, Kowloon Park, Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tickets: Free admission
I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture
This is the first major retrospective of Ieoh Ming Pei that properly appraises the work of one of the greatest architects of the 20th and 21st centuries. Pei’s high-profile projects were realised over seven decades and include the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, D.C., the modernisation of the Grand Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. The exhibition takes an expanded and closer look at Pei’s practice through six themes representing areas of focus and approaches throughout his career.
When: June 29, 2024-January 5, 2025
Where: West Gallery, M+, West Kowloon Cultural District, 38 Museum Drive, Kowloon
Tickets: HK$160. Buy tickets on Klook
Joyful Trees
This project re-examines the traditional idea of woods by animating seemingly rigid landscape elements. Renowned American architectural group Diller Scofidio + Renfro has arranged a number of Chinese Junipers on the lawn, while three are planted at a 10-degree bias in rotating turntables, creating rhythmic patterns of shadow and light when the trees rotate.
When: Until January 31, 2025
Where: Oi! Garden Oi!, 12 Oil Street, Causeway Bay
Tickets: Free admission
Header image credits: shotsstudio, syolacan, Leung Cho Pan via Canva
