Hong Kong’s art scene will continue to be a ‘roller coaster’ over the next ten years, says SCMP Arts Editor Enid Tsui
By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist
Over the past several years, Hong Kong has been putting in more effort to boost its art scene. With the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Tai Kwun, and M+ all opening within the past 5 years, along with major auction houses doubling down on their operations in the city, Hong Kong has become a more welcoming and vibrant home for local and international art.
Still, the idea that the city is a “cultural desert” persists.
Enid Tsui, the Arts Editor of SCMP — and an FCC member — shared her insights and predictions for the city’s art scene alongside FCC President Lee Williamson at a Club Lunch promoting her latest book Art in Hong Kong: Portrait of a City In Flux (2025). This event was also held in anticipation of Hong Kong Art Week, which takes place from March 26-30.
She first explained that the idea of Hong Kong not being a cultural desert stems from a quote from famous Chinese writer Lu Xun who said during a speech that “Hong Kong is not a cultural desert.” Most people, Tsui said, only remember the final two words of his quote, leading many to believe that Hong Kong lacks an artistic ecosystem.
“This trope is still being rehashed over and over again, and you still see occasionally in actual, official press releases [that say] ‘Hong Kong is no longer a cultural desert,’” she said.
With her firm stance that the city does in fact have a unique cultural identity, President Williamson then asked Tsui to paint a picture of what the next ten years would look like for Hong Kong’s art scene. Her answer: a roller coaster.
“The roller coaster ride that is Hong Kong’s art scene will continue,” Tsui said while citing the major cancellations that have occurred despite the city’s push for more arts-related events.
The most recent cancellation took place on February 23 when the Digital Art Fair released a statement on their website saying, “Due to reasons beyond our control, we are forced to cancel the fair.” The fair was expected to take place during Art Week in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The government’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said the next day that the fair did not secure funding from the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund.
According to Tsui, cancellations like this are likely in the next ten years as resources become “more selective”, with many of Hong Kong’s art organisations all competing for support from limited government finances.
In addition to resource constraints, Tsui mentioned another factor that may also fuel the rollercoaster of Hong Kong’s arts future — the shifting “red lines” under the National Security Law (NSL) that Beijing imposed upon the city in June 2020.
“Art practitioners, artists, curators, people who work in major venues, they are continuing to negotiate and discover what living under NSL means,” she said. “Censorship and the rules are not specific.”
Despite financial and political challenges, Tsui remained firm that Hong Kong’s art scene isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. In fact, she postulated that Hong Kong could become home to more artists from jurisdictions around Asia that have greater restrictions imposed on artistic freedoms.
Tsui specifically mentioned the queer art fair Myth Makers — Spectrosynthesis III that took place in Tai Kwun from December 24, 2022, to April 10, 2023. She explained how such a fair promoting LGBTQ+ artwork would be censored in places like the Middle East, and even in Singapore where same-sex relations between men were decriminalised in 2022 but same-sex marriage is still not recognised by the government.
“More diversity, perhaps more international talents, may choose to come to Hong Kong, [or to come] back to Hong Kong,” she said.
To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:
