From the collection exhibitions at M+, CHAT’s fifth anniversary show, Para Site’s  pair of solo showcases, and new programs at Asia Society, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Asia Art Archive, and beyond—there are many ambitious projects taking place across Hong Kong. As Art Basel Hong Kong returns to its full scale this week, every art organization in the city has rolled out special programs for international guests and cultural professionals. Here are our picks of shows to see beyond the art fairs and galleries. 

(Also check out our previews of Art Basel Hong Kong and fairs, plus guides from Central, Wan Chai and Kowloon, and Southside shows to see.)

Feb 3–TBA
Shanshui: Echoes and Signals
M+
West Kowloon Cultural District

“Shanshui: Echos and Signals” is a thematic exhibition that draws nearly 130 works from the M+ collection to offer alternative perspectives on the traditional concept of shanshui (landscape) in our postindustrial world. The exhibition traverses a diverse range of mediums, including sculpture, moving image, sound, design, architecture, and ink painting, seeking to uncover the reverberations of shanshui in postwar contemporary art practices. 

Mar 8–TBA
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Primitive
M+
West Kowloon Cultural District

Thai artist and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s multichannel video installation Primitive (2009) will have its Hong Kong debut at M+ in The Studio space. Primitive was shot in the northeastern Thai town of Nabua and incorporates two of Weerasethakul’s other short films in a multichannel installation that forges an intimate, yet mystical portrait of teenage youths. 

Mar 16–Jul 28
Aki Sasamoto: Sounding Lines
Para Site
Quarry Bay

New York-based multidisciplinary artist Aki Sasamoto’s first major solo show in Hong Kong, “Sounding Lines,” comprises a newly commissioned installation and performance-based work that occupies the entire gallery floor. The new performance installation builds off Sasamoto’s recent moving image work Point Reflection (video) (2023) of objects floating atop a kitchen sink. 

Mar 16–May 26
Trevor Yeung: Soft Breath
Para Site
Quarry Bay

Para Site’s twin exhibitions during the art week look to expand conversations about sculpture today, with Aki Sasamoto’s newly commissioned performance, installation, and moving-image works Point Reflection (video) (2023) centered around controlled chaos and sculpturally altered, found objects. Trevor Yeung’s “Soft Breath” features a soap-cast sculpture based on a tree at a popular London historic cruising spot. 

Mar 23–Jun 2
Wifredo Lam: Homecoming 
Asia Society Hong Kong
Admiralty

“Homecoming” marks Cuban-Chinese artist Wifredo Lam’s first major solo presentation in Hong Kong. Hailing from both Afro-Spanish heritage and Cantonese roots, the exhibition contributes to the dialogue of the Chinese diaspora. Featuring prints, personal memorabilia, and paintings, it spans multiple periods of Lam’s artistic career: from his time in Havana and Spain in the 1920s to 1938; Paris from 1938 to 1940; Marseille in the early 1940s; as well as Cuba, France, and Italy in the 1950s and ’60s.

Mar 16–Jul 14
Factory of Tomorrow
CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Art & Textile)   

The fifth anniversary exhibition at CHAT features works by 19 artists from the collection as well as newly commissioned works. Viewers can revisit works such as Ho Rui An’s video essay on the textile-based economy of Hong Kong and large-scale rattan works, replete with karaoke pop-song lyrics, by Yee I-lann. Kobayashi Yuki created a new all-red environment of soft sculptures while Shao Chun’s new silver installation draws from rituals of Asian highlands cultures.

Mar 18–Aug 31
Another Day in Hong Kong
Asia Art Archive
Sheung Wan

On view in Asia Art Archive’s (AAA) library, “Another Day in Hong Kong” revisits Oscar Ho’s 1990 exhibition, “One Day in Hong Kong,” and expands upon it by looking at historical and personal memory. Using materials from AAA’s Hong Kong Collections and other local archival resources, it examines what a seemingly ordinary day in Hong Kong’s art history could look like, specifically, October 19, 1996.

Mar 26–Apr 28
After Human: Marks of the Beasts
Tomorrow Maybe
Jordan

The group exhibition “After Human: Marks of the Beasts” has artists use storytelling as a tool to convey their imaginations and figurations of prey, pet, pest, ornamental animal, monster, sacred creature and biometric object. The diverse works of London-based artist duo Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen, Korean artist Sungsil Ryu, artist and curator Zoë Marden, performance ensemble Future Host, artist Joy Li, visual artist Mui Hoi Ying, and artist Hou Ching will be featured. 

Mar 23–Apr 28
Magdalen Wong: Sour Punch
Current Plans
Wong Chuk Hang

Curated by Eunice Tsang, “Sour Punch” is Magdalen Wong’s solo exhibition that explores the enigmatic duality of clowns through dark humor and critical viewpoints. Involving a site-specific installation along with videos and kinetic installations which looks at the different “personas” clowns could take, from healers to rebels, romantic heroes to critics, showcasing their ability to convey complex emotions and narratives.

Mar 20–Apr 10
Both Sides Now IX: Generations
Videotage
Cattle Depot Artist Village, To Kwa Wan

“AI Art: The Future is Now” explores the impact of generative technology on creativity through video artworks from Hong Kong, the UK, and beyond. Curated by Isaac Leung and Jamie Wyld, the program features eight artists’ works showcasing the interplay between AI and human creativity.

Events and Special Projects

Mar 28
Artists’ Night
Tai Kwun
Central

Tai Kwun’s Artists’ Night activates the Prison Yard with emerging and experimental musicians and regional visual artists. Headlined by Berlin-based artist Pan Daijing’s audiovisual concert, the event features live performances by Indonesian duo Senyawa and Hong Kong musician Xiaolin, alongside installations by Vaevae Chan and video works by Pan Daijing. All explore the transformative power of voices, rituals, and fluidity. 

Mar 22–Jun 9
Yang Fudong: Sparrow on the Sea
M+ Facade
West Kowloon Cultural District

Yang Fudong weaves together scenes from seaside villages and nocturnal city streets of Hong Kong in his poetic new film Sparrow on the Sea (2024), which will be screened on the M+ Facade at night. Using visual motifs from classic Hong Kong cinema of the 1970s and 1980s, the film evokes a sense of nostalgic familiarity. This film is co-commissioned by M+ and Art Basel and presented by UBS.

Mar 16–Apr 14
Sarah Morris: Who is Who
Tai Kwun Contemporary
Central

The solo exhibition by Sarah Morris comprises the feature-length film ETC (2024) with a soundtrack by Liam Gillick and a new site-specific wall painting Lippo (Paul Rudolph) (2024). Known for her films that explore the psycho-geography of cities, Morris examines the everyday interconnections of an industrialized society through her filmic portraits. 

Mar 16–Apr 7
Beyond The Singularity
HKADC, Landmark South
Wong Chuk Hang

The exhibition showcases artistic objects collaboratively made with artificial intelligence (AI), created by photographer So Hing-keung, lyricist Chow Yiu-fai, calligrapher Chui Pui-chee and more artists of different specialities. It aims to explore the philosophy and ethics between the use of AI and artistry, as the combination has been concerned as much as it is awed. 

Mar 15–Mar 31
To Morrow and Beyond
Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Wan Chai

Launching the Creators for Tomorrow initiative dedicated to local emerging artists, the Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) has gathered eight awardees of the first two editions here, as a review of the creators’ collective growth up to this point. The artworks on view explore aspects of daily life, history and mythology, in an attempt to respond to notions of “post-humanity.”

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