Cover Singaporean artist Shavonne Wong, who will be featured at Art Central 2025, performing “Talking to Machines: When AI Becomes More Than a Tool” (2025) (Photo: courtesy of the artist)
Singaporean artist Shavonne Wong, who will be featured at Art Central 2025, performing “Talking to Machines: When AI Becomes More Than a Tool” (2025) (Photo: courtesy of the artist)
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Entering its tenth edition this year, Art Central is back at Central Harbourfront with new elements and 108 galleries
Art Central, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, returns to Central Harbourfront from March 26 to 30. The art fair brings a line-up of 108 local and international galleries—the art fair’s largest line-up till date.
Curated by Hong Kong-based curator Aaditya Sathish, who was previously the associate director of Square Street Gallery, the fair’s programme—in Sathish’s words—“addresses the current state of the world while simultaneously envisioning its potential transformations”.
“The selected artists all explore this central theme, embodying an almost messianic presence by highlighting the intersection of transnational and personal experiences,” says Sathish.
In case you missed it: Art Basel Hong Kong 2025: Dates, highlights and all you need to know
Above Aaditya Sathish, curator of Art Central (Photo: IG/@everhadpie)
Above Corey Andrew Barr, fair director of Art Central (Photo: IG/@safstudentprize)
Aaditya Sathish, curator of Art Central (Photo: IG/@everhadpie)
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One of the highlights at Art Central 2025 is the newly commissioned large-scale installation Brazen Rift (After Branzi) (2025) by Hong Kong artist Nadim Abbas, who explores alternatives to urban life. His installation is inspired by the unused architectural drawings by Italian architect and designer Andrea Branzi, who rejected mass production.
The fair also introduces a section titled “Legend” curated by local artist Enoch Cheng. It presents the works of artists born before 1970 who have changed the course of contemporary art history. Examples include Japanese avant-garde visual and performance artist Ay-O, who has collaborated with avant-garde art group Fluxus since the 1960s; Japanese photographer Eikoh Hosoe, known for his surrealistic imagery; and Hong Kong video artist May Fung, who co-founded media collective Videotage.
“The Bicyclist Who Fell Into a Time-Cone” (2023) by Raqs Media Collective (Photo: courtesy of the Jencks Foundation at The Cosmic House and the artists)
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The rest of the gallery programme spotlights both established artists and emerging Asian talent through its gallery booths, performances and talks.
For those interested in moving images, the art fair this year will feature another new element: Cinema Central, a screening venue to showcase video art. Subjects of the selected moving images include sexual politics, racial issues, the relation between technology and nature and marginalised identities.
“We are pleased to present an exceptional creative programme this year, aimed at inspiring fresh insights and facilitating meaningful dialogues among audiences, while showcasing the diverse dynamism and extensive depth of art practices throughout Asia-Pacific and beyond,” says Corey Andrew Barr, the fair director of Art Central.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
