What’s our favorite fair you ask? Without a doubt, Hong Kong Basel. Hong Kong during Art Basel is less about checklist tourism and more about moving between vertical worlds: towering museums, industrial gallery floors, late-night bars tucked above neon streets. The city runs on density and contrast: hyper-commercial, deeply historic, and increasingly experimental. 

This is where you will find us: 

SEE

MUSEUMS

Start in West Kowloon, a center for Hong Kong’s most prominent institutions. 

M+ Museum – Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now – Spanning three decades, the exhibition traces the South Korean artist’s evolution from raw, confrontational performance to monumental, sci-fi-inflected installations. Early works, like her unsettling public performances in sculptural fabric suits and the infamous decomposing fish installation Majestic Splendor, carry a visceral critique of gender and power.

Tai Kwun – A former Central Police Station turned cultural complex, it’s where colonial architecture meets contemporary programming, ideal for a slower wander between exhibitions and courtyard pauses.

Para Site – Celebrating its 30-year anniversary, the exhibition site-seeing revisits its 1996 origins, grounding Hong Kong’s current art moment in a longer, scrappier history of independent curating.

GALLERIES

In Wong Chuk Hang, a former industrial zone turned gallery hub, you’ll find some of the city’s sharpest programming:

• Art Intelligence Global presents The Uncanny
• Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Jaffa Lam’s Asteroid J-734
• Kiang Malingue presents Zheng Zhup’s Seeking Traces
• Blindspot Gallery shows Lap-See Lam’s Bamboo Palace, Revisited

Back central, make sure to visit these following: 

• Pearl Lam Galleries hosts Bearing the Unseen, leaning into conceptual and cross-cultural narratives.
• Gagosian presents Mary Weatherford’s Persephone. Lush, luminous abstractions that feel almost cinematic against the skyline.

DO

Cat Street Market

Dragon’s Back hike

Flower Market & Jade Market

Victoria Peak

EAT + DRINK

Ho Lee Fook –  Ho Lee Fook leans into Chinatown kitsch with mahjong tiles, golden lucky cats, but the food is unmistakably Hong Kong. Chef ArChan Chan delivers bold Cantonese flavours with a modern edge, from Kurobuta char siu to razor clams with glass noodles and aged garlic.

Bar Leone – Bar Leone isn’t just Hong Kong’s best bar—it’s among the world’s best, ranked No.1 in Asia and No.2 globally in 2024. Founder Lorenzo Antinori channels classic Roman neighbourhood bars, with AS Roma jerseys, mortadella sandwiches, and crowd-pleasing “cocktails popolari.”

Yardbird – Yardbird is perpetually packed—book ahead or be ready to queue. The focus is yakitori: 20+ skewers of local “three-yellow” chicken, grilled over binchotan, from beak to tail. Expect rare cuts, standout meatballs with tare and egg yolk, and a deep Japanese whisky list.

Kansai One A5 Wagyu Sukiyaki 

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club – old-world atmosphere, strong drinks.

Yu Tea House

SHOP

Hak Dei 

Yuet Tung China Works 

Jik Sap

Sun Nga Shing Umbrella Store 

We’re excited to feel the energy in and outside of the art world this week in Hong Kong. If you are at the fair and looking for expert guidance, get in touch with newcube!