Curator Aaditya Sathish recently recalled returning to Hong Kong from New York in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. It was, he said, a fascinating time. “From what I could understand, Hong Kong was very much a place to trade global contemporary art. But over the pandemic, there was a focus on the local. A lot of independent art spaces started to emerge, and I remember seeing everyone flock to these places,” he told ARTnews. “There was a desperate need to look at what was around us.”
Indeed, Hong Kong’s art scene has been through a crash course in survival, shaped by a whirlwind of disruptions—from mass pro-democracy protests to the pandemic, and more recently, the imposition of the national security law.
As arts journalist Enid Tsui notes in her newly published book, Art in Hong Kong: A City in Flux, defining “Hong Kong art” is no easy task. For years, Hong Kong artists have avoided grand ideological declarations, instead gravitating toward the everyday, the mundane, and the deeply personal. But the turbulence of recent years has fueled waves of protest art and socially engaged practices.
No doubt, this year’s Hong Kong Art Week will dazzle collectors as they swoop into the city, treating them to a buffet of masterpieces and the hottest blue-chip names money can buy, both at Art Basel Hong Kong and in the museums and galleries across the city.
Take M+, for instance. One of its headlining exhibitions is a blockbuster show of more than 60 works by Picasso (alongside the works of 30 artists from Asia and its diaspora).
But some might wonder, for a museum that was founded to challenge the Western-centric narratives dominating the art world and prides itself on championing the “now,” how yet another exhibition of a long-canonized figure will feel to an international audience who, at this point, has seen Picasso’s work in just about every major museum, auction house, or coffee table book.
For those interested in a more authentic sense of Hong Kong’s art scene, they’d be better poised of traversing the industrial elevators in Wong Chuk Hang or the narrow lanes and unpolished corners of Kowloon’s residential neighborhoods to see a fuller picture of what the city’s artists have to offer.
Given their own lived experiences, Hong Kong’s art community has a particularly sharp understanding of how art can serve as both a refuge and a means of processing collective trauma, not to mention an act of defiance in an increasingly authoritarian global landscape. Even now, they continue to navigate the shifting political realities of the city, finding ways to create, critique, and endure.
Below, you’ll find eight standout shows on view during Hong Kong Art Week—at independent, artist-led, or small gallery spaces—that go beyond blue-chip names and easy-to-digest aesthetics, and instead center the work of female and queer artists and invite audiences to reflect on societal inequalities, shifting power dynamics, and even pressing geopolitical tensions.
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“In Our Own Backyard” at Asia Art Archive
Image Credit: Courtesy the artist “In Our Own Backyard” explores the vibrant women’s movements across South Asia during the 1980s, focusing on creative gathering and archival practices. Through the personal archives of artists Sheba Chhachhi and Lala Rukh, the exhibition showcases photographs, posters, and ephemeral materials that document workshops, street actions, and regional gatherings, highlighting each movements’ dynamism.
Rukh’s artworks, like Sigiriya III: Night and Subh-e-Umeed, and Chhachhi’s “The Yamuna Series,” for example, are presented alongside Maryam Rahman’s children’s book about Rukh. The Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research (AFSAR) has also contributed an online radio station, Moving Hums, that features readings and interviews and will culminate in an onsite event during the exhibition’s run.
Through August 30, at CCG Library, Asia Art Archive, 11/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Rd.
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“Lining Revealed: A Journey Through Folk Wisdom and Contemporary Vision” at Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile
Image Credit: Courtesy CHAT Curated by Wang Weiwei, “Lining Revealer” not only bridges traditional folk crafts with contemporary art but also foregrounds the intricate relationship between women’s labor and society, a theme woven into several standout works. Han Mengyun’s newly commissioned piece, The Unbearable Purity: Three Stories (2025), draws on Dong minority textiles to explore labor, oppression, and the creative power associated with femininity. Similarly, Yim Yen Sum’s From Here to There II (2024), a collaborative shawl woven in the Indonesian songket style in collaboration with women from Barang Village in Flores, Indonesia, reflects a communal labor process rooted in mutual care and harmony with nature.
Through July 13, at Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile, 45 Pak Tin Par Street.
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“Three Stories: Monsters, Opium, Time” at Kiang Malingue Gallery
Image Credit: Courtesy the artist and Kiang Malingue This exhibition unveils Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen’s latest explorations in film and video, presenting three distinct yet interconnected bodies of work. Ho’s works delve into the complex interplay of history, myth, and perception. Night March of Hundred Monsters reimagines Japanese folklore, blending traditional yōkai with historical figures from the Japanese occupation of Malaya, creating a haunting, animated encyclopedia that blurs the lines between legend and reality.
O for Opium, on the other hand, dissects the aestheticization and historical impact of the opium trade, layering archival footage, film excerpts, and animated imagery to evoke the substance’s phantasmagorical effects and its role as a colonial instrument. This exhibition on the whole offers a poignant reflection on the power and enduring legacy of opium.
Through May 13, at Kiang Malingue Gallery, 10 Sik On Street, Wanchai.
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“Sin Wai Kin: The Time of Our Lives” at Blindspot Gallery
Image Credit: Courtesy the artist and Blindspot Gallery Sin Wai Kin’s latest exhibition features three new video works: The Time of Our Lives, The Fortress, and Asleep (all 2024), alongside the artist’s makeup face wipes for the various characters they portray in the films. Sin’s works challenge binary perceptions of time, objectivity, and identity, drawing from science-fiction, drag performance, and metaphysics. The Fortress explores fractured identity through a hypermasculine character and his ghostly counterpart within Lahore Fort, inspired by Rūmī, while The Time of Our Lives presents a “sci-fi sitcom” where time and space are fluid, featuring stereotypical characters and an intergalactic newscaster. Asleep, derived from the sitcom, is a video portrait of Sin’s drag persona, re-examining Western femininity.
Through May 10, at Blindspot Gallery, 15/F, Po Chai Industrial Building, 28 Wong Chuk Hang Road.
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“Chulayarnnon Siriphol: The Golden Snail Series” at Tomorrow Maybe
Image Credit: Courtesy Tomorrow Maybe Chulayarnnon Siriphol, acclaimed for his work on on the collaborative 2018 anthology film Ten Years Thailand, presents “The Golden Snail Series,” a solo exhibition exploring political ideologies and contemporary culture through the motif of the golden snail. Known for his experimental moving images and body-centric mediums, Siriphol uses this exhibition to deconstruct myths within Thai and Asian history. Employing silent films, video essays, TV advertisements, and karaoke videos, he reinterprets existing narratives related to the snail’s geometric forms and cultural significance. Curated by Joseph Chen, this exhibition features videos, prints, and sculptures that showcase Siriphol’s signature sarcastic critique of political ideologies, consumer culture, pop music, and contemporary art.
Through April 25, at Tomorrow Maybe, 4/F Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road.
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“Tsang Kin-Wah: T REE O GO D EVIL” at Galerie du Monde
Image Credit: Courtesy the artist and Galerie du Monde Tsang Kin-Wah’s inaugural exhibition at Galerie du Monde features videos and site-specific text installations, exploring the fragile nature of morality and humanity’s brutality, particularly during conflict. The gallery has been transformed into a symbolic space that combines the Garden of Eden, Golgotha, and Goya’s “Disasters of War” series, with a sloped hill displaying stark videos of human suffering. Tsang blurs the lines between good and evil, God and the devil, drawing on Nietzsche’s call to reevaluate moral values.
The distorted “EVIL” in the title signifies life’s vulnerability and the fluid nature of authority. The exhibition includes footage of real atrocities, such as those committed by ISIS, and historical book burnings, highlighting the suppression of dissent and knowledge.
Through May 24, at Galerie du Monde, 108 Ruttonjee Centre, 11 Duddell Street.
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“Gongkan: Asynchronous Affinities” at Tang Contemporary
Image Credit: Courtesy the artist In this solo exhibition, Gongkan, a Thai artist with Chinese roots, explores personal and collective emotions amid global discrimination and social change. His art juxtaposes contradictory elements, such as Thai temple prangs in cosmic space and smoke-polluting birthday cakes, to convey struggles of oppression and isolation, specifically in how they relate to queer people.
The exhibition includes an assemblage of human and non-human elements, connected by teleportation holes. A new installation features a traditional Chinese table with meals made of consumer artifacts, such as fast fashion clothes and magazine strip noodles, raising questions about the past in a rapidly changing present. Gongkan emphasizes the importance of understanding transcultural links, particularly his own Chinese Teo Chew heritage, in navigating cultural diversities and addressing generational and societal gaps.
Through May 14, at Tang Contemporary, 20/F, Landmark South, Wong Chuk Hang.
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“Dave Chow: Reinstatement Works” at Square Street Gallery
Image Credit: Courtesy the artist and Square Street Curated by Aaditya Sathish, Hong Kong artist Dave Chow’s show transforms the gallery space into a physically restrictive one, mirroring the constraints of modern capitalist workplaces. Scattered ceiling tiles, typically representing conformity, are trampled, symbolizing a rebellion against societal norms. The exhibition’s sharp sounds and tactile experiences provoke reflection on the nature of desire and the reasons behind societal conformity. Through these installations, Chow examines how individuals navigate and resist the pressures of modern capitalist society, suggesting that desire ultimately drives our actions.
Through October 10, at Square Street Gallery, 21 Square Street, Sheung Wan.
