Can a party change the world? The hosts of Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)’s annual bash in Hong Kong think so. Before this year’s do—which is being co-hosted with the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art for the first time—they discuss the Californian museum’s move into Asia
No city knows how to party quite like Los Angeles. From the Oscars to the Grammys to intimate charity brunches hosted in Bel-Air mansions to the rowdy late-night gigs shaking bars on the Sunset Strip, it sometimes feels like the City of Angels is just one never-ending bash. And for one night each year, this party comes to Hong Kong.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) team descends on Hong Kong every March to host a dusk-till-dawn event during Art Basel week. The first, which took place in 2017, was held at Harilela House in Kowloon Tong and set the bar high, keeping everyone from septuagenarian art historians to twenty-something heiresses entertained till the early hours.
Last year, the organisers went even bigger and took over the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Guests were ferried in by sampan and welcomed into an immersive experience inspired by the louche world of 1930s Hong Kong, the era of opium dens and Suzie Wong. Qipao-clad dancers and actresses stalked through the cocktail reception and launched into startling, impromptu performances in the middle of the crowd, while jazz band Lucky Chops jammed on stage. Several gallerists were noticeably late arriving at Art Basel the next day.
See also: Exclusive: LACMA Party 2018
Bridging the gap
It may not be as cerebral as some of the other events hosted during Art Week, but the party has become a firm fixture on the art world calendar. This year, the event is celebrating not just LACMA but also the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, bringing together two of the world's most influential arts insitutions.
“I think having fun is actually really important,” says Alia Al-Senussi, one of the four co-hosts of the event, alongside Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Dino Sadhwani, LACMA director Michael Govan and Philip Tinari, director and CEO of UCCA.
“I have drunk the Kool-Aid and I believe that art and culture can change the world, and I think we live in a time when we need to think very deeply about how we can change the world for the better," continues Al-Senussi. "And I believe that fun is really part of that—there are so many moments when you’re walking around at the party and you introduce two people and really build connections.”
The connections made at the bash stretch far beyond individual people. In the hosts’ minds, the event provides a platform for galleries, non-profit art spaces, museums and even whole cities to forge connections. “LA is full of creative people, like Hong Kong. I love this idea of the soup of creative people in these two port cities,” says Govan. “I think there’s a real shift in cultural influence towards the Pacific—LA is gathering many artists, Latin America is growing fast in its cultural influence and, of course, Asia has incredible history and culture and is now emerging as a huge influence in today’s world. The great cities around the Pacific hold the future.”
See also: 5 Things To Know About LACMA's Art Basel Party In Hong Kong