Hong Kong was awash with colour and creativity during “Art March”, a month-long celebration of arts and culture. More than a dozen major events, including Art Basel Hong Kong, the Asian debut of ComplexCon and the inaugural Hong Kong International Cultural Summit, as well as various open-air programmes transformed the cityscape into a colourful canvas.

Art Basel Hong Kong returned to pre-pandemic levels featuring with 243 elite galleries from 40 countries and territories around the world, while Art Central welcomed over 41,000 visitors to view around 500 contemporary artworks by local and international emerging talents.

Iconic Victoria Harbour served as the focal point for “Art@Harbour”, which comprised five large-scale projects. Among them, the art-tech installation “Resonating Life which Continues to Stand” featured hundreds of colourful luminous ovoids in Admiralty. Across the water in Kowloon, “Voyage with Van Gogh” delighted visitors at the Cultural Centre Piazza, while the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade hosted “Ephemeral”, a world-class international light and sound installation of giant translucent rainbow-hued bubbles.

Hong Kong’s strong tradition of film was in focus at annual events such as the Asian Film Awards, and the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) that gathered renowned industry players and over 750 worldwide exhibitors.

Martial arts fans were treated to tribute exhibitions for late legendary martial arts novelist Dr Louis Cha (aka Jin Yong), with giant statues and sculptures of characters from his novels presented at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum “A Path to Glory – Jin Yong’s Centennial Memorial, Sculpted by Ren Zhe” and The World of Wuxia at Edinburgh Place in Central.

The International Cultural Summit at West Kowloon Cultural District drew over 1,000 arts and cultural thought leaders globally. Speaking at the occasion, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee highlighted the city’s appealing cultural diversity, and the commitment to develop Hong Kong into an East-meets-West Centre for International Cultural Exchange. “Hong Kong is the only city in the world that enjoys both the China advantage and the global advantage,” Lee said.