Cover ‘Greater Bay Area in the Eyes of Artists’ exhibition in Hong Kong in 2022 (Photo: Getty Images)
‘Greater Bay Area in the Eyes of Artists’ exhibition in Hong Kong in 2022 (Photo: Getty Images)
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The Greater Bay Area is witnessing a vibrant surge in cultural initiatives, thanks to a new generation of gallerists and art museum professionals who are injecting creative possibilities into the region
When the He Art Museum opened in 2020 in Foshan, it caused quite a stir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area’s (GBA) art scene. Not only does it boast an impressive design, by award-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando; it also features world-class exhibitions with a unique perspective: as well as showcasing local historical research and the museum director He Jianfeng’s family collection, the 86,000 sq ft private museum has also been the stage for local and global contemporary artists. On top of this, it houses Pablo Picasso’s 1968 painting Homme et Femme Nus and Bernar Venet’s 1974 sculpture Three Indeterminate Lines.
He Art Museum is one of a slew of state-of-the-art galleries, museums and art centres popping up in the GBA since the 2010s, including Guangzhou’s Bai’etan GBA Art Center in April this year; the Guangdong Times Museum, which reopened in March; Shenzhen Art Museum in 2023; and Guangzhou’s Sea World Culture and Arts Centre in 2017.
Above He Art Museum (Photo: courtesy of He Art Museum)
He Art Museum (Photo: courtesy of He Art Museum)
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One of the pioneers of the region’s art scene is Kenna Xu, a second-generation Shenzhen native who, in 2018, founded his eponymous gallery, converted from part of his former residential building from the 1990s in Futian district, and the KCCA Art Centre four years later in Nanshan. Neither district is known for art: Futian is a retail and entertainment centre, Nanshan a tech and business hub. But it is precisely in this “lack of [cultural] characteristics” that Xu sees potential to build an art community from scratch. “Shenzhen is like a blank sheet of paper, and the key lies in how you guide and cultivate it,” he says.
“Most of us who grew up in Shenzhen do not have the concept of ‘home’. Shenzhen is an amalgamation of different peoples coming in from around the world, and the city has been used as a test site for the country’s policies,” he says. “So Shenzheners are very receptive to new things, new art and new media. We don’t have the baggage of tradition. [You can almost say] Shenzhen is the most contemporary city in China from this perspective. What does contemporary art represent anyway? Uncertainty and openness.”
Above Kenna Xu (Photo: courtesy of Kenna Xu)
Kenna Xu (Photo: courtesy of Kenna Xu)
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“The art ecology in the south can be summarised by the words ‘mobility’ and 'dispersion’: people keep coming and going, meeting and dispersing,” says Shao Shu, the executive director of He Art Museum. “There’s not a fixed or complete art ecosystem like Beijing 798 [a former factory-turned-contemporary art hub] or Shanghai’s West Bund.”
Eight years ago, Shao moved to Foshan to oversee the construction of the museum at the height of the Shanghai’s art development. “Many people were surprised my decision to leave [Shanghai], especially to a place that didn’t have seeds sown for art,” he recalls. “What attracted me was the founder’s intention.” The museum was established by and named after Chinese billionaire He Jianfeng, the son of electrical appliance manufacturer Midea Group’s founder He Xiangjian. “Jianfeng wanted to set up a good art museum in the area as a long-term investment. He saw it as a symbol of passing on a [cultural] legacy, to give back to his hometown,” Shao explains.
When the museum first opened, Shao estimated that the number of visitors would be less than a hundred on weekdays and two to three times more at weekends. Last year, it sold nearly 400,000 tickets.
Above He Art Museum (Photo: courtesy of He Art Museum)
He Art Museum (Photo: courtesy of He Art Museum)
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Macau’s art scene, similarly, is developing rapidly. Hua Yu Zhou, who has worked in China’s domestic art industry for 20 years, moved with his family in 2007 to Macau, where he founded Hwa’s Gallery in 2020. The city wasn’t an art centre then, but there were signs of cultural development.
In 2016, the Social Cultural Development and Management Company, founded by businesswomen Inno Xie and Sabrina Ho and auction house Poly Auction organised the 6075 Macau Hotel Art Fair, the first in Macau to showcase artworks in hotel rooms. Led by businesswoman and then Macau Legislative Councillor Angela Leong, it presented works by 60 artists born after 1975. “The fair has not only provided opportunities for Macau and mainland Chinese artists to showcase their talents; it has also brought new vigour and direction to the territory’s art industry,” says Hua.
He says that other factors have further contributed to the rapid development of Macau’s art industry: the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in 2018 has made transport and exchange between Macau and Hong Kong, which is already an art hub, more convenient.
“Macau’s strong economic basis, with its per capita GDP constantly ranking among the top five in the world, has also provided a solid foundation for the development of the art market,” he adds. In 2023, the Macau government introduced the Macao International Art Biennale, which has brought the territory’s hotels, museums, independent artists and international creatives together for art events. “In the past, it was more difficult to sell a painting than a house. Today, dozens of paintings may be sold at a single art party.”
Above Kenna Xu Gallery (Photo: courtesy of Kenna Xu Gallery)
Kenna Xu Gallery (Photo: courtesy of Kenna Xu Gallery)
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As for the rest of the cities in the GBA, such as Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Foshan and Zhongshan, Xu observes that their flourishing economies give them the potential to grow their art industries.
“In the past, the stage for Chinese artists was the world and the capital behind them came from overseas, with many foreign collectors, museums and foundations collecting Chinese contemporary art,” says Xu. “In recent years, a lot of capital has come from China, and most of the popular [Chinese] artists’ work have been bought by [Chinese collectors].”
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Above Hua Yu Zhou (Photo: courtesy of Hua Yu Zhou)
Hua Yu Zhou (Photo: courtesy of Hua Yu Zhou)
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He says if more Chinese artists are to attain global recognition, both the artists and gallerists have to integrate themselves into international art markets, instead of just participating in a few overseas art fairs. “For this, some of my friends advised me to go abroad to open a gallery, but I don’t want to. I want to take root in the GBA and absorb enough local art nutrients. It’s only when our gallery becomes an international gallery that we can bring Chinese artists to the international arena.
“Many people say that southern China is a desert of art and culture, but it’s just because the wealth of culture here has never been tapped into.”
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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.
