The lunar new year season has ushered in auspicious beginnings across the Asia-Pacific region. Iwan Wirth and Manuela Wirth, two of the three cofounders of Swiss gallery juggernaut Hauser & Wirth, jetted in from Zurich to unveil their new street-level gallery in the heart of Hong Kong’s Central District. In tow were partner and president Marc Payot and directors from some of its other 20 branches around the world, plus their artistic heavy hitters Zeng Fanzhi and Mark Bradford. Painter Zhang Enli was also in attendance for the kickoff show starring his own work—amazingly, his debut in Hong Kong. All of Zhang’s colorful loop-the-loop paintings sold out on the day of the grand opening. The feng shui master should receive a big red envelope of Hong Kong dollars! 

In Thailand, the tight-knit art community celebrated the opening of a nonprofit space, Bangkok Kunsthalle, in the capital’s Chinatown neighborhood. Housed in a former printing house, the initiative is spearheaded by Marisa Chearavanont, a Korean who married into Thailand’s richest family, and is overseen by Stefano Rabolli Pansera, a former Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz director and video art enthusiast. No surprise then that the Italian curator’s inaugural exhibition featured the work of ex-Warhol scenester, French-American filmmaker Michel Auder. Local cognoscenti are waiting to see how Bangkok Kunsthalle will blend in with Thai culture, given their DIY creative spirit.