Seoul poised to paint over Hong Kong in fine arts

Back in 2013, Hong Kong painted itself as the uncontested leader in Asia’s art scene – over Singapore, Shanghai, and Tokyo. 

Art Basel, the international fair that connects collectors, galleries, and artists, chose the special administrative region as its platform to the region. 

There were three main reasons behind the selection. 

Hong Kong is close to the wealth in mainland China, both culturally and geographically. 

It also boasts a preferable tax rate, sometimes even duty-free, on trades of fine art pieces.

Hong Kong also housed global investment banks’ Asia headquarters and enjoyed a robust tourism industry.

Since then, Art Basel Hong Kong grew to become a 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) business in 2016. 

But its heyday was cut short in 2019 with rising tension between Hong Kong and Beijing. A series of pro-democracy protests broke out on March 15 in response to a change in the Extradition Law.

Foreign art galleries began to look for other locations in Asia, due to worsening political uncertainty and security. To make matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic dampened investor sentiment in the industry.

“The turnout at last month’s Art Basel Hong Kong was quite low, hit by a string of negative news,” an industry insider told The Korea Economic Daily. “The seven-day quarantine mandate also discouraged overseas visitors from entering the area.”

FRIEZE THAWS KOREAN ART SCENE

Just a month ago, the renowned Frieze Art Fair announced it will launch a new fair in Seoul in September, in a unique partnership with the Galleries Association of Korea.

Frieze is an international contemporary art fair in London, New York, and Los Angeles. The main London event takes place every October in Regent's Park.

The joint event of Frieze Seoul and the Korea International Art Fair (KIAF) is estimated to rake in around 1.2 trillion won ($931 million), much higher than the average revenue from Art Basel Hong Kong. 

The revenue generated by Frieze is thought to account for around 1 trillion won of the total. 

“Seoul will emerge as the center of Asia's art market this year,” the Galleries Association president Hwang Dal-Seung said. 

Hwang added: “It is possible for the city to maintain that position, thanks to its solid infrastructure. Korea also doesn’t have the high tax rate of China or the earthquake risk of Japan.” 

The rise in popularity of the South Korean capital is also reflected by New York-based Gagosian Gallery’s participation in the upcoming international event.

It will be the first time for the uber-selective gallery to attend an art gala in Seoul.

Gagosian has 16 gallery spaces around the globe but only one in Asia, currently in Hong Kong. The rest are spread across the United States and Western Europe. 

Write to Soo-Young Seong at syoung@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.