Art Basel’s Conversations and Salon program returns to Hong Kong with a wide range of panels featuring prominent figures within the international art world, from leading artists, gallerists and collectors, to museum directors, curators and critics. Artists will include Brook Andrew, Charles Avery, Heman Chong, David Diao, Bao Dong, Tracey Emin, Aikaterini Gegisian, Waqas Khan, Bose Krishnamachari, Tiffany Chung, Tatsuo Miyajima, Oscar Murillo, Shahzia Sikander, Sun Xun, Wu Tsang, Tintin Wulia, Lantian Xie, Wang Yuyang, Samson Young, Yu Honglei, Yu Youhan and Zhao Zhao.
Art Basel’s Conversations series will open on Wednesday, March 23. The first of four conversations, the Premiere Artist Talk will feature Chinese American artist David Diao. The New York-based artist will be in conversation with Pauline J. Yao, Curator, M+, Hong Kong. Wednesday afternoon's Conversation will see Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima, whose light installation will be displayed on the ICC during Art Basel, in conversation with Hong Kong artist Samson Young, the winner of the inaugural BMW Art Journey. On Thursday, March 24, Anne Pasternak, Director, Brooklyn Museum, New York; Defne Ayas, Director, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; N'Goné Fall, Independent Curator and Co-Founder of the Dakar based collective GawLab, Paris; and Thomas J. Berghuis, Director, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum MACAN), Jakarta will join a discussion titled ‘Building Platforms’, moderated by András Szántó, Author and Cultural Consultant, New York, exploring the various ways in which independent institutions might flourish as contemporary platforms. The final Conversations event will take place on Friday, March 25, and will consider ‘Collecting as a Radical Practice’, featuring Aaron Cezar, Founding Director, Delfina Foundation, London; Hideaki Fukutake, Vice-President, Fukutake Foundation, Naoshima; Phillip Keir, Co-founder, Keir Foundation, Sydney; Sara Puig, patron of the arts and trustee, Prado Museum Foundation and Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona and Roobina Karode, Director & Chief Curator, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi. The Conversation will be moderated by Alan Lau, Co-Chair, Tate's Asia Pacific Acquisition Committee and Para Site Art Space, Board Member, M+, Hong Kong.
The afternoon Salon program this year consists of 18 shorter and often more informal presentations beginning on Wednesday, March 23. The program features talks and panel discussions led by artists, curators, museum directors, leading academics, researchers and media professionals and will cover a broad range of topics, from arts education to cultural journalism, from the influence of empire on artistic practice to the differing roles of public and private art institutions and the nuances of what lies between. As part of Salon, British artist Tracey Emin will join Tim Marlow, Artistic Director, Royal Academy of Arts, London and David Tang, Entrepreneur, Hong Kong in discussion. Cosmin Costinas, Curator and Executive Director, Para Site, Hong Kong; Rupert Myer, Chair, Australia Council for the Arts, Surry Hills; and Merve Caglar, Director, SAHA, Istanbul will examine the different ways in which institutions might be able to survive through funding and how they might navigate the changing landscape of funding bodies. The Salon will be moderated by Art Basel’s Encounters Curator and Director, Artspace, Sydney, Alexie Glass-Kantor, who will the same day moderate a Salon featuring Encounters artists Brook Andrew, Melbourne; Tintin Wulia, Brisbane and Charles Avery, London as they discuss this edition’s focus on materiality.
On Friday, Heman Chong, artist, Singapore; Pi Li, Sigg Senior Curator, M+, Hong Kong; Philip Tinari, Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Mimi Brown, Founder of Spring Workshop, Hong Kong; and Johnson Chang, Director, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong, will discuss ‘Museums: Public, Private, and the Space in Between’, moderated by Charles Guarino, Publisher, Artforum, New York.
On Saturday, Salon continues with a discussion entitled ‘Mapping Time(s) and Space(s)’ featuring Tiffany Chung, Artist, Saigon; Aikaterini Gegisian, Artist, London; Morgan Wong, Artist, Hong Kong, moderated by Su Wei, Independent Art Critic and Curator, Beijing.
Another panel discussion will see Pakistani artist Waqas Khan and Indian artist Bose Krishnamachari discuss art in South Asia with Roobina Karode, Director & Chief Curator, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, and New York and Lahore based Pakistani artist Shahzia Sikander, moderated by Sneha Ragavan, Researcher, Asia Art Archive, New Delhi
Conversations will take place daily between Wednesday, March 23 and Friday, March 25 from 10am to 11.30am, with a second artist talk scheduled on Wednesday from 12noon to 1pm.
Salon talks are held daily in the afternoon from Thursday, March 24 to Saturday, March 26, with an additional Salon talk scheduled on Wednesday from 5pm to 6pm.
Both programs take place in the auditorium on Level 1, at the entrance of Hall 1A of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Talks from the Conversations program are free to the public. Art Basel VIP card or ticket includes admission to all Salon talks. The talks will be accessible in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
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