Gazette Drouot - C apencheres

© Marco Chow, WOW Productions
THE MAGAZINE ART FAIR
Magnus Renfrew Art Basel Director
La Gazette Drouot: What was your experience in
the art business when you first decided to create
the Hong Kong Art Fair?
Magnus Renfrew: Prior to joining the team in 2007 to
help set up ART HK, I ran a gallery in Shanghai for one
year. Before that, I was an auction house specialist for 7
years with a focus on contemporary art and I helped to
set up the first sale of Contemporary Asian art for the
auction house Bonhams in London, in 2006.
Magnus Renfrew.
108 GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL I N° 19
From 100 exhibitors at your first edition in 2008 to
266 this year, how have you succeeded to attract
the major international contemporary art galleries
to come to Hong Kong Art Fair?
Galleries are provided with an exceptional platform in
Hong Kong: it is an internationally central location, politically
neutral, and has no taxes on the import, export or
sale of art. It really is the best place in Asia to hold an art
fair, providing an accessible gateway into China and the
Asian market, as well as being a central hub to discover
the best art in Asia. The successful growth of the fair was
inevitable in a way. However, having said that, we also
worked incredibly hard in convincing galleries to participate
in the first place. In 2007, when preparing to
launch the first fair, I took 40 flights in six months to
speak with international galleries about this new fair in
Hong Kong. I am always travelling throughout the year
to meet with as many gallerists as I can and am always
looking for the best quality work, whether by emerging
or established artists. Aside from the gallery participation,
we have also been keenly developing a strong
educational program to complement the exhibitions in
the fair. We have been very fortunate, working with
great educational partners including Asia Art Archive,
1a Space and many other key arts bodies in Hong Kong
to deliver this program. This year, we were also
honoured to have Yuko Hasegawa on board as the
curator of ART HK Projects for which she selected 10
large-scale installations to be featured at the fair which
received a great response – like Shen Shaomin’s installation
of breathing hairless animals on salt which was
quite popular. This is really just the beginning and it is
brilliant having Art Basel on board now to take the fair
to a whole new level of global significance.