HONG KONG.- Art Central, presented with Lead Partner United Overseas Bank (UOB), was successfully concluded on 31 March. With 107 participating galleries from Asia and across the globe, the Fair presented a dynamic and thoughtful selection of artworks and progressive curated programmes, which widely appealed to collectors, art enthusiasts, and the art-loving public. The five-day programme attracted 37,313 visitors, reaffirming its position as one of Hong Kong Art Week’s flagship events with the blend of private and institutional interest creating strong sales throughout the week.

Charles Ross, Managing Director, Art Central says, “We are proud that Art Central once again presented a showcase of some of the best of contemporary art practices from Asia and across the globe. The Fair experience was elevated by high-quality and vibrant programming. The success and positive response of this edition is testament to the maturity of the market and quality collectors. Sales to private, corporate and institutional collectors were achieved, and immense interest in the parallel programme was cultivated across the Fair.”

Christine Ip, Chief Executive Officer – Greater China, UOB says, “This is the third year that UOB has been the Lead Partner of Art Central and we are pleased that our interactive art installation ‘The Huge Brush Ink’ and 24 UOB Art in Ink workshops were well-attended and well-received. Both initiatives enabled visitors to create their own ink artworks and share their joy with friends and family. Such engagements with the public at Art Central are part of UOB’s ongoing outreach efforts to promote the appreciation of art in the wider community.”

Institutional support was shown across private and public museums with representatives of National Gallery of Singapore (Singapore), M+ (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Museum of Art (Hong Kong), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Russia), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (United States), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum (United States) , PLATFORM-L Contemporary Art Center (Seoul), Vancouver Art Gallery (Canada), Kim Contemporary Art Center (Latvia), and new private museums from around Asia attending Art Central. An international group of curators, collectors and art enthusiasts were also in attendance including: Dr. Uli Sigg, Fernando Zobel, Thomas Shao, Dr. LUI Che-Wo, Goodwin Gaw, Peter LAM Kin-Ngok , Esther Heer-Zacek and Jody Dharmarwan.

Additionally, the parallel programmes at Art Central were well-received, including the large-scale art installation and educational ink art workshops by UOB, cutting-edge large-scale installations curated by Ying Kwok and discursive performances presented by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, which greatly enriched the Fair experience.

Art Central will return for the 6th edition in 2020.