Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Fo Tan: Hong Kong's Art Refuge

August 6, 2010 by Marion Maneker

Time Magazine looks at the Fo Tan industrial area of Hong Kong and explains how it went from manufacturing to artists’ refuge to real estate battleground in such a short span:

Hong Kong’s real artistic vanguard can be found 40 minutes by train from the city center, in the grimy industrial area of Fo Tan, where artists work next to sausagemakers and metalsmiths in hulking, derelict factories. For years, manufacturers have been fleeing to cheaper pastures in China, so Hong Kong, notorious for high rents, has had a surplus of vacant industrial space. The result has been an explosion of creativity.

Fo Tan’s pioneering artists arrived in the early 2000s, when a sluggish economy and the SARS crisis sent rents tumbling. Now there are more than 200 in the area, many of them graduates of the nearby Chinese University of Hong Kong. While there’s nothing new about artists setting up shop in obsolete industrial areas — it happened in New York City’s SoHo in the 1960s and Beijing’s Dashanzi in the 1990s — its impact in Hong Kong has been profound. There are now more full-time artists than ever before and they’re catching the eye of both local and international publics. In January, more than 10,000 people flocked to Fo Tan’s annual open-studios event.

Industrial Bloom (Time)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Christie’s Hong Kong 20th C & Contemporary Evening Sale Breaks a Billion HKD ($132.6m)Christie’s Hong Kong 20th C & Contemporary Evening Sale Breaks a Billion HKD ($132.6m)
  • Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design, Hong Kong = $119.84m ($15.36m)Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design, Hong Kong = $119.84m ($15.36m)
  • With Sales in Hong Kong, Christie’s & Phillips Test the Asian Market’s Appetite for Western Contemporary ArtWith Sales in Hong Kong, Christie’s & Phillips Test the Asian Market’s Appetite for Western Contemporary Art
  • Hong Kong Rises as Gem & Jewelry Center Reflecting Asian Appetite for Alternative Stores of ValueHong Kong Rises as Gem & Jewelry Center Reflecting Asian Appetite for Alternative Stores of Value
  • Takashi Murakami, with a Retrospective Opening in Russia, Still Wants Recognition in His Homeland Takashi Murakami, with a Retrospective Opening in Russia, Still Wants Recognition in His Homeland 
  • Is Tepid Hong Kong Sale of Warhol’s Mao a Sign of the Chinese Market’s Lack of Interest?Is Tepid Hong Kong Sale of Warhol’s Mao a Sign of the Chinese Market’s Lack of Interest?

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Hong-Kong

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...