HONG KONG â€" When Hong Kong ArtWalk started in 2001, a bunch of us sat down at the offices of HK Magazine, a free weekly where I was working. We drew up a map of what was then considered a new, up-and-coming neighborhood called Soho. We had cobbled together about 15 galleries and found some local restaurants to sponsor us with bottles of house wine and cheese cubes with toothpicks in them. This seemed pretty impressive to us at the time.
Our map would be clutched in the hands of curious art-seekers as they navigated the hilly, narrow streets of a mixed neighborhood that still had as many butchers and street vendors as galleries, cafes and boutiques. Gallery owners were so unsure of the crowds that some hung their art higher on the walls, lest those who got tipsy on our free plonk crash into their canvases.
This was before Hong Kong became the world’s third-largest auction market. It was before major fairs like Art Basel, which is holding its first Asia event here next month, would ever deign to look at us as a destination. It was when West Kowloon â€" the site of a planned mega-cultural district expected to cost 21.6 billion Hong Kong dollars, or about $2.8 billion â€" was an empty patch of land that hardly anyone had heard of. (As construction hasn’t begun, it’s still a mostly empty patch of land, but at least everyone has heard of it).
This was before there were Soho offshoots with silly, vaguely New York-y names like Noho, Boho and Woho. (That would be South of Hollywood, North of Hollywood, Below Hollywood and West of Hollywood. Tip for art lovers: Go to Hollywood Road).
Hong Kong ArtWalk 2013, which is taking place on Thursday, has more than quadrupled in size to 70 galleries. You can’t walk the whole thing any more, because it includes alternative art spaces in old factory warehouses in non-touristy neighborhoods like Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island’s eastern edge, and Aberdeen on its south shore.
Hong Kong’s newly moneyed art market has attracted some big international names. The Gagosians, White Cubes and Ben Browns of the world now have branches here. But none of them are participants in ArtWalk, which has stayed refreshingly local. It’s a great way to see the real on-the-ground art scene.
For many years, ArtWalk proceeds have gone to the Society for Community Organization, a small, local charity that helps the poorest in this city. This year, they will be showing images of Hong Kong’s homeless by the photographer Lei Jih-sheng at Schoeni Art Gallery‘s Hollywood Road branch.
Like the art scene itself, Hong Kong ArtWalk is not just much bigger, but much better. The range and quality of the works have greatly improved. And, I must say, so has the quality of the hors d’oeuvres.
ArtWalk takes place on Thursday from 4:30-11:30 p.m. Tickets are 450 Hong Kong dollars, or about $60. If you’re in Hong Kong, stop by one of the selling points listed at hongkongartwalk.com. Overseas visitors can email hongkongartwalk@gmail.com.
