Living with arts

Hong Kong's art market is poised to see a bumper 2024 as the city's traditional cultural richness and heritage remain a top attraction for collectors trustful of the sector's resilience. Liu Yifan reports from Hong Kong.

In contrast to the plunge in Hong Kong's stocks, and the property sector's bearish performance in 2023, the special administrative region's art market has come under the spotlight with explosive growth expected in 2024, fulfilling the city's role as a prime investment destination.

The SAR, famed for its East-meets-West cultural richness and heritage, is witnessing a bustling artistic landscape, with most deep-pocketed collectors suggesting they intend to spend big in 2024.

According to a report on the art market, jointly published by the international fair Art Basel and Swiss-based investment bank UBS, Hong Kong logged the highest percentage of increases across global markets for imports and exports of art and antiques in the first quarter of last year, compared with the same period in 2022.

The value of Hong Kong's art and antique exports soared by 59 percent during the period, leading other major markets, such as the US, which "only grew marginally year-on-year". The SAR's imports also rose by 50 percent. This was in marked contrast to the city's overall export performance, which logged an 11 percent year-on-year decline during the first 10 months of 2023.

From inflationary pressures and the prolonged effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, to supply chain issues, and cryptocurrency turbulence, trading and investment sentiment has been subject to manifold and, at times, contradictory forces.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index had retreated by 14 percent by the end of 2023, while average daily turnover on the stock market shrank 16 percent year-on-year to HK$115.5 billion ($14.78 billion) in the first six months.

Art collectors, however, remained committed to the market and reengaged with live events, while exhibitions, auctions and fairs resuming fuller schedules as the market expanded despite volatility in the wider economy.

Global art sales surged by 3 percent year-on-year to an estimated $67.8 billion in 2022, lifting them above their pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to data from Art Basel.