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Art Central Is Still Hong Kong’s Most Vital Discovery Fair

From Kaitlyn Hau's Hong Kong Artist Commission to a landmark Indonesian showcase, the 2026 edition balances curatorial depth with regional breadth and broad accessibility.

The tone at this year’s Art Central—which opened to VIPs ahead of Art Basel on March 24 in a tent on Hong Kong’s iconic Central Harbourfront—is reflected in the ambition of its installations and public programming, which have already expanded the fair beyond a site of trade and networking into a curatorial platform for research and discovery. Europe-based curator and artist Enoch Cheng was chosen to guide its curated gallery program, while Zoie Yung curated its ever-expanding non-commercial creative program that in 2026 encompasses a series of installations, moving images, performances and on-site dialogues, with a particular emphasis on new digital dimensions.

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At the fair’s entrance, visitors are welcomed by a major installation: White Mirror – The Vista of Inner Worlds by young artist Ling Pui Sze. Drawing from her years-long study of cellular imagery, alongside recent research into the microscopic world at the University of Cambridge, she presents a whimsical, interactive sculptural Zen garden that evokes the complex entanglement between micro and macro cosmos. Hand-made paper sculptures appear to float—somewhere between galaxy and garden—offering a rare moment of stillness within the fair’s bustling atmosphere. Populating the space are abstract, radiating forms inspired by neurons, the cells responsible for transmitting information through the nervous system. It’s the largest installation by the artist to date and a poetic metaphor for reconsidering the emotional impact on the human body, suggesting a kinship between micro and macro universes and resonating with the Daoist notion of “Everything as One.”

Art Central remains predominantly region-focused. Among the 117 galleries participating, 30 percent are presenting Hong Kong-based artists and 85 percent represent the broader Asia-Pacific. It’s a big part of what makes this fair such a compelling site for discovery, particularly of emerging talent from Mainland China. London’s SWANFALL Gallery, for example, is spotlighting a group of young Chinese artists, including Li Shuangqiang (b. 1995, Beijing). His glitch-inflected compositions evoke a kind of retro-future, probing the limitations of technology while reflecting on our position as a civilization suspended between its systems and the order of the universe. Priced between HK$17,000 and HK$20,000, the works attracted immediate interest, with two sold within the first hour at the........

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