Art Basel unveils gallery line-up and first highlights for its 2026 Hong Kong edition

● Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 will bring together 240 leading galleries from 41 countries and territories, reaffirming its role as a global platform rooted in the Asia-Pacific region.

● Over half of participating galleries operate spaces within the Asia-Pacific region, including 29 galleries with spaces in Hong Kong.

● First-time exhibitors include 32 galleries from Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Greater China region, Turkey, France, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States, reflecting a diversity of new voices from across the globe.

● A brand-new sector, Echoes, will debut, spotlighting works created within the past five years in focused presentations by up to three artists.

● Encounters, the sector dedicated to large-scale installations, sculptures, and performances, will be curated for the first time by a collective of four Asia-based curators and led by Mami Kataoka, alongside Isabella Tam, Alia Swastika, and Hirokazu Tokuyama.

● The city-wide Public Program returns with free public access to Film screenings, Conversations, and collaborative events with cultural institutions across Hong Kong, reinforcing the fair’s connection to the city and its communities.

● The fair’s Film Program will be curated by pioneering media artist Ellen Pau, deepening the fair’s engagement with moving image and Hong Kong’s media art landscape.

● One day of the Conversations Program will be directed by guest curator Venus Lau, Director of Museum MACAN in Jakarta, fostering dynamic cross-cultural dialogue and public engagement across Asia’s art scene.

● For the fifth year, Art Basel and M+ will co-commission a monumental public artwork,presented by UBS, for the M+ Facade in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander’s 3 to 12 Nautical Miles will transform the museum’s exterior with a luminous animation composed of her hand-painted watercolours, tracing historic and modern trade routes that have shaped global exchange.

● Art Basel Hong Kong, whose Global Lead Partner is UBS, will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from March 27–29, 2026, with Preview Days on March 25 and 26.

Art Basel is delighted to announce the participating galleries and its brand-new curatorial team for its 2026 edition in Hong Kong, bringing together established and emerging voices from across the globe. This edition underscores Hong Kong’s position as the key global nexus for art in Asia and beyond, with a focus on artistic innovation, regional diversity, and the next generation of galleries, artists, and curators. The fair once again commits to its role in advancing cultural exchange worldwide, building on the energy of Asia-Pacific’s thriving art ecosystem.

Angelle Siyang-Le, Director of Art Basel Hong Kong, said: ‘The 2026 edition of Art Basel Hong Kong is a celebration of the city’s status as Asia’s global hub for culture. Hong Kong’s unique strengths – its tax-free status, free-port heritage, logistical ease, multilingual accessibility, and unrivalled connectivity – continue to underpin its position as a gateway to the region’s rich cultural diversity and dynamic art market. We’re delighted to debut a new curatorial team to lead our Encounters, Film, and Conversations sectors, and to introduce the inaugural Echoes sector for 2026. We’re also excited to deepen our partnerships locally, regionally, and globally as we continue to expand the content and networks of our platform. Above all, our aim is to inspire, to foster learning, and to bring communities together. Art Basel Hong Kong is more than an art fair – it is a living ecosystem where creativity and culture drive a vibrant, resilient art market.’

This year’s edition welcomes 32 galleries joining Art Basel Hong Kong for the first time, spanning Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Greater China region, Turkey, France, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. Notable newcomers include A Lighthouse called Kanata (Tokyo), The Commercial (Sydney), Pilevneli (Istanbul), Uffner & Liu (New York), Galería Casado Santapau (Madrid), and 1 Mira Madrid / 2 Mira Archiv (Madrid). Together, they bring fresh perspectives and expand the fair’s reach across diverse artistic contexts.

Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 will mark the debut of Echoes, a new sector dedicated to works created within the past five years. Ten curated booths will feature works by up to three artists, offering a compelling glimpse into the most current artistic practices and narratives. Highlights include Max Estrella (Madrid), presenting Tiffany Chung’s embroidered maps of spice routes and Miler Lagos’s carved book sculptures, and Double Q Gallery (Hong Kong), with an immersive spatial installation by Polish artist Natalia Załuska.

Reflecting its commitment to curatorial excellence and innovation, Art Basel Hong Kong introduces a new collective curatorial model for Encounters, the sector dedicated to large-scale installations, sculptures, and performances. For the first time, four Asia-based curators, led and advised by Mami Kataoka (Director of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo), alongside Isabella Tam (Curator of Visual Art, M+, Hong Kong), Alia Swastika (curator, researcher, and writer, Jakarta), and Hirokazu Tokuyama (Senior Curator, Mori Art Museum), will jointly curate the sector, bringing their distinct perspectives with bold, cross-regional insights to the fair’s most immersive platform.

The city-wide Public Program returns with a rich schedule of free public events, including Film, Conversations, and institutional collaborations across Hong Kong. These initiatives deepen the fair’s connection to local communities, making contemporary art accessible to a broad public and celebrating the city’s role as a global cultural hub.

As part of the fair’s Public Program, the Film Program will be curated by Ellen Pau, a pioneering media artist and curator whose practice has shaped Hong Kong’s art and technology landscape. The 2026 edition will be the first time that an artist curates the Film Program. A visionary leader in the field, Pau cofounded Videotage, a groundbreaking non-profit platform for media art in Asia. She also established the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival, which remains a leading forum for art and technology. Pau will bring visionary insight to the curatorial direction of the Film Program, deepening Art Basel Hong Kong’s ongoing commitment to moving image and time-based media in the region.

The Conversations will include a day of talks guest-curated by Venus Lau, currently Director of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum MACAN) in Jakarta. Renowned for her interdisciplinary approach and for framing contemporary art as a reflection of the zeitgeist, Lau champions cross-disciplinary dialogue and public engagement through exhibitions, music festivals, and film programs. Her extensive experience across leading institutions—including K11 Art Foundation (KAF), OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art—positions her to bring fresh vision and depth to Conversations. Together with the Encounters curatorial group, the appointments of Pau and Lau underscore the fair’s continued dedication to nurturing artistic leadership and cross-cultural exchange in the region.

For the fifth year, Art Basel and M+ will co-commission an artwork for the M+ Facade, presented by UBS. From 23 March 2026, Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander’s 3 to 12 Nautical Miles, a radiant animation that brings her hand-painted watercolours to life on the museum’s exterior, mapping enduring currents of power, trade, and global exchange. Rooted in the visual language of East India Company manuscript paintings, the work emerges as meditation on empire, authority, and the networks that continue to shape global life—spanning 19th-century Hong Kong, the Mainland, and South Asia, to the interconnected economies of the present. This commission reflects Art Basel’s commitment to bringing ambitious contemporary art into the public realm.

Zero 10, a new curated initiative for art of the digital era and supported by OpenSea, will follow its debut at Art Basel Miami Beach with a second edition at Art Basel Hong Kong. Representing a decisive, long-term commitment to support and empower a rapidly evolving area of artistic production and collecting, the initiative brings together leading and next-generation participants—artists, studios, galleries, and digital innovators—within Art Basel’s global framework of curatorial excellence and market access. Further details will be announced in due course.

Galleries

The Galleries sector brings together 182 of the world’s leading galleries, showcasing exceptional artworksfrom their extensive programs. Exhibitors will present a wide range of works by 20th-century masters,contemporary blue-chip artists, mid-career practitioners, and emerging talents.

Reflecting the fair’s role as a meeting point between artistic legacies and new directions, this year’s presentations highlight cross-generational dialogues and innovative reinterpretations of established traditions.

Nine galleries in this sector will be participating in Art Basel Hong Kong for the first time. They include:

● A Lighthouse called Kanata (Tokyo), exploring Japan’s renewed interest in abstraction with works by emerging painters shown alongside postwar masters Takeo Yamaguchi, Kumi Sugai, and Hisao Domoto

● The Commercial (Sydney), with a selection of works by five Australian cross-generational artists, including Archie Moore’s conceptual self-portrait, new oil paintings by Mitch Cairns, and a major sculpture by Augusta Vinall Richardson

● Pilevneli (Istanbul), bringing together AI-generated works, porcelain sculpture, and mixed-media installations by Refik Anadol, Hüseyin Çağlayan, Kevin Francis Gray, and :mentalKLINIK

● Uffner & Liu (New York), featuring paintings, sculptures, and textile-based works by nine artists who approach figuration through the lenses of distortion, transformation, and disguise

● Galería Casado Santapau (Madrid), teaming up with Kalfayan Galleries (Athens) for a group presentation of paintings, drawings, and collage by five artists including Antonis Donef, Farida El Gazzar, and Harm Gerdes

● 1 Mira Madrid / 2 Mira Archiv (Madrid), delving into representations of mental and physical landscapes, featuring stitched textiles and works on paper by Teresa Lanceta, Maria Lai, and Hamish Fulton

Reflecting Art Basel’s commitment to nurturing emerging galleries, the Galleries sector will welcome a number of participants who previously exhibited in the fair’s Insights and Discoveries sectors. These include galleries from Japan, South Korea, and the Greater China region, including:

● Tabula Rasa Gallery (Beijing, London), with paintings, sculpture, and digital media works by eight multigenerational artists based across China and Europe, reflecting the gallery’s cross-cultural dialogue

● Fine Arts Literature Art Center (Wuhan), showcasing the works of seven Chinese artists in a presentation that reinterprets the stone as an important motif in Chinese culture

● HdM Gallery (Beijing), presenting Manuel Mathieu’s recent ceramics, Lee Jin Woo’s volcanic ash tableaus, Zhao Yinou’s painted wood engravings, and gold foil works by Hu Weiyi

● Jason Haam (Seoul), uniting works by emerging Korean artists with those of international contemporaries in a dialogue on identity, technology, and global culture

● Yoshiaki Inoue Gallery (Osaka), tracing the avant-garde legacy of Gutai by presenting works by mid-century pioneers alongside contemporary Japanese artists

● Yutaka Kikutake Gallery (Tokyo), showing sculpture, installation, and drawings by six East Asian artists including Trevor Yeung, Yuko Mohri, and Hiraku Suzuki

Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 will also welcome back 14 galleries that are returning after a hiatus, further enriching the fair’s diverse offerings. Their renewed presence signals a continued confidence in the fair’s role as a vital meeting point for the global art community. Notable returning exhibitors include:

● carlier gebauer (Berlin, Madrid) with a group presentation including Paul Pfeiffer’s mythic sports imagery, Kyungah Ham’s politically charged embroideries, and new large-scale works by Maria Taniguchi

● Eslite Gallery (Beijing, Taipei), showing bronze animal sculptures by Hsiung Ping-Ming alongside mirrored stainless-steel works by Zhan Wang

● Galerie Christophe Gaillard (Brussels, Paris), with a solo presentation of intimately sized diptych paintings and gilded ceramics by Hélène Delprat

● Starkwhite (Auckland), presenting abstract paintings by Jonny Niesche and photographs of extinct birds by Fiona Pardington, New Zealand’s representative at the 2026 Venice Biennale

● Waddington Custot (London, Paris, Dubai) showing postwar and contemporary works by Robert Indiana, Barry Flanagan, Jean Dubuffet, and Fabienne Verdier, alongside paintings by Chu Teh-Chun and Zao Wou-Ki

For the full gallery list for Galleries, please visit artbasel.com/hongkong/galleries.

Discoveries

The Discoveries sector spotlights emerging artists and galleries, offering a platform for new artistic perspectives through solo presentations of recent projects. With a total of 25 exhibitors, over half of the participating galleries were established within the last ten years. Several of this year’s presentations share a focus on material experimentation and transformation, where artists translate personal and historical narratives into new forms. Highlights from new and returning galleries include:

● Phillida Reid (London), debuting an installation by Cayetano Ferrer that transforms AI hallucinations of museum objects into carved stone relics, presented alongside a new carpet work

● PTT Space (Taipei), with Ciwas Tahos’s mixed-media installation exploring indigenous and queer kinship through video and performance

● Shrine Empire (New Delhi), presenting 51 erasure drawings by Neerja Kothari, inspired by the artist’s process of relearning to walk after neurological injury

● Property Holdings Development Group (Hong Kong), showcasing Chan Ting’s installation of found objects layered with plaster and pigment, exploring themes of history, migration, and queer reinvention

● Vin Gallery (Ho Chi Minh City), with an immersive installation by Ako Goto that uses ceramics, light, and shadow to reinterpret traditional Asian puppet forms

● Spurs Gallery (Beijing), presenting clay and metal wall sculptures by Roksana Pirouzmand, reflecting on the artist’s complex experience of immigration from Iran to the United States

● Cylinder (Seoul), participating in Art Basel Hong Kong for the first time, will present Hyun Bhin Kwon’s hybrid, techno-inspired installation combining sculpture and sound

● N/A (Seoul), making their debut at Art Basel Hong Kong with a presentation of Jeongsu Woo’s layered collages, which blend printmaking and painting techniques to reinterpret motifs from medieval iconography and contemporary subcultures

Dedicated to supporting emerging artists, the MGM Discoveries Art Prize will return in 2026, awarding a cash prize to be shared between the artist and their gallery. The winning artist will be invited to Macau to immerse themselves in the city’s rich cultural heritage, engage with local talents, and showcase their works, fostering creativity and inspiring new ideas.

For the full gallery list for Discoveries, please visit artbasel.com/hongkong/discoveries.

Insights

Insights will feature 20 curated projects focused on artists from Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, offering a deeper look into an individual artist's career, a specific theme, or a period in art history from 1900 to the present. Several of this year’s presentations trace the evolution of modern and postwar art across Asia, with a strong focus on formative practices and cross-generational dialogues. They include:

● G Gallery (Seoul), linking generations of Korean feminist practice by showcasing Yang Juhae’s textile abstractions alongside wearable soft sculptures by Woo Hannah

● Mizoe Art Gallery (Fukuoka, Tokyo), marking the centenary of sculptor Tomonori Toyofuku's birth with a retrospective of his abstract wood and bronze works

● Gallery Kogure (Kanazawa, Kyoto, Tokyo), showing a selection of Masao Tsuruoka’s 1960s paintings and sculptures, reflecting his exploration of the human condition in postwar Japan

● Sun Gallery (Seoul), participating in the fair for the first time, showing works by Chungji Lee, a pioneering figure in Korean monochrome painting and one of few female artists associated with the movement

● Matthew Liu Fine Arts (Shanghai), also new to the fair, presenting 1980s experimental ink paintings by pioneers of contemporary Chinese abstraction Shen Chen and Huang Rui

● MtK Contemporary Art (Kyoto), making its debut at the fair with a solo presentation of Rinko Kawauchi’s ethereal, light-filled photographs of everyday moments

For the full gallery list for Insights, please visit artbasel.com/hongkong/insights.

Echoes

Echoes, a new sector debuting at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026, will highlight works created within the past five years through curated presentations, featuring up to three artists. Across 10 booths by 13 participating galleries, the sector offers a compelling encounter with the most current artistic practices and narratives shaping contemporary art today. Presentations in this new sector will include:

● Arcadia Missa (London) & Christian Andersen (Copenhagen), joining forces to present abstracted landscapes by Anton Munar, de/rematerialized sculptures by Brad Kronz, and paintings by Lewis Hammond

● Capsule Shanghai (Shanghai) & Klemm's (Berlin) presenting new sculptures by Leelee Chan, Elizabeth Jaeger, and Yan Xinyue in a group project exploring notions of place and belonging

● Flowers Gallery (Hong Kong, London), featuring new works by Movana Chen, Jakkai Siributr, and Luka Yuanyuan Yang that repurpose maps, clothing, and archival photographs into textile and collage works reflecting on connection and collective memory

● Double Q Gallery (Hong Kong), making their debut at the fair with an immersive installation by Natalia Załuska that will see the booth transformed into a three-dimensional field of geometric abstraction

● Max Estrella (Madrid), participating in Art Basel Hong Kong for the first time, will show Tiffany Chung’s embroidered maps of spice routes and carved book sculptures by Miler Lagos

For the full gallery list for Echoes, please visit artbasel.com/hongkong/echoes.

Major Arts and Cultural Events in the Region

Asia’s contemporary art landscape continues to thrive, with a rich lineup of biennales and exhibitions takingplace across the region during the fair.

Biennales

● Singapore Biennale 2025: pure intention

Dates: 31 October 2025 – 29 March 2026

● Taipei Biennial 2025: Whispers on the Horizon

Dates: 1 November 2025 – 29 March 2026

● 15th Shanghai Biennale: Does the Flower Hear the Bee?

Dates: 8 November 2025 – 31 March 2026

● Thailand Biennale Phuket 2025: Eternal [Kalpa]

Dates: 29 November 2025 – 30 April 2026

● Kochi-Muziris Biennale: For the Time Being

Dates: 12 December 2025 – 31 March 2026

Our Hong Kong fair features premier galleries from Asia and beyond. It provides an in-depth overview of Asia-Pacific's astonishing diversity, as well as global artistic perspectives through Modern and contemporary works.