Art Basel Hong Kong to Introduce New ‘Echoes’ Sector as 2026 Edition Appoints First Fully Asia-Based Curatorial Team

Art Basel Hong Kong will introduce a new sector and appoint an entirely Asia-based curatorial team for the first time at its 2026 edition, organisers have confirmed, as the fair expands its programme ahead of its return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 25 to 29 March.

The new section, titled Echoes, will debut at the forthcoming edition and focus on works produced within the past five years. Its inaugural presentation will include 10 booths organised by 13 galleries, among them Flowers Gallery, presenting work by Movana Chen, Jakkai Siributr and Luka Yuanyuan Yang, and a joint presentation by Capsule Shanghai and Berlin-based Klemm’s featuring sculptures by Leelee Chan, Elizabeth Jaeger and Yan Xinyue.

Youssra Raouchi, mirage, 2024. Courtesy the artist and Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Bucharest and Harare

The announcement forms part of a broader restructuring of the fair’s curated programmes. Art Basel Hong Kong’s Encounters sector, dedicated to large-scale installations and performance, will be organised by a curatorial collective led by Mami Kataoka, director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, alongside Isabella Tam of M+ in Hong Kong, Jakarta-based curator Alia Swastika and Mori Art Museum senior curator Hirokazu Tokuyama. The 2026 edition will present 11 projects structured around the theme of the five elements: space or ether, water, fire, wind and earth.

Encounters will also extend beyond the fairgrounds through an offsite presentation at Pacific Place Park Court, where the American artist Christine Sun Kim will present a digital animation installation exploring sound and translation, according to details outlined in the fair’s official press materials.

Sougwen Chung, SPECTRAL – Oscillation 1, Munich, 2024 (installation view). Courtesy the artist and Fellowship x Artxcode

The 2026 edition will mark the Asia debut of Zero 10, Art Basel’s platform dedicated to digital and technologically driven artistic practices following its launch at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2025. Fourteen exhibitors are scheduled to participate, including Art Blocks, bitforms gallery and Asprey Studio, presenting projects spanning blockchain-based works, animation and hybrid sculptural installations.

Further programme changes include the appointment of Hong Kong media artist Ellen Pau as curator of the Film programme, making her the first practising artist to oversee the section. Titled In Between Magic and Reality, the programme will present moving-image works addressing themes including memory, geopolitics and technological change. The Conversations talks series will largely be organised by Art Basel’s internal team, with one day guest-curated by Venus Lau, director of Museum MACAN in Jakarta.

Art Basel Hong Kong director Angelle Siyang-Le said the decision to appoint an entirely Asia-based curatorial group reflects an emphasis on regional expertise combined with international engagement. The fair will also launch Friends of Art Basel Hong Kong, a new initiative intended to strengthen relationships with museums across Asia, including institutions in mainland China such as the He Art Museum and Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum.

Art Basel Hong Kong 2025. Courtesy Art Basel

The fair is expected to host 240 galleries from 41 countries and territories, matching participation levels from the 2025 edition. More than half of participating galleries operate spaces in the Asia-Pacific region, with 29 based in Hong Kong. Thirty-two galleries will participate for the first time, including A Lighthouse called Kanata (Tokyo), Pilevneli (Istanbul), The Commercial (Sydney) and Galería Casado Santapau (Madrid).

Beyond the fair halls, Art Basel and M+ will again co-commission a façade project for the West Kowloon museum, this year by Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander. Her animated work 3 to 12 Nautical Miles will be screened nightly from 23 March to 21 June 2026.

The 2026 edition will open with preview days on 25 and 26 March before public access begins on 27 March.