Preview of Art Central Hongkong 2026
Gallery Kimreeaa, Square Street Gallery, Yi Wei Gallery and more
Arahmaiani, I Love You (Large), 2010, cotton drill, styrofoam, 95 x 5cm. Image courtesy of the artist and ISA Art Gallery.
Art Central returns to the Central Harbourfront for its eleventh edition with a programme driven by discovery. The fair is bringing together 117 galleries and more than 500 artists during Hong Kong Art Week. 75% of the presentations relate to the Asia Pacific region.
Fair Director Corey Andrew Barr says,“Art Central continues to be a space where emerging perspectives gain momentum and established practices are reimagined.” Shaping that vision this year is Central Stage, a new curated feature spotlighting six artists at pivotal moments in their practice. They include: Tokyo collective SIDE CORE, Iranian-American textile artist Elnaz Javani, Lithuanian installation artist Marta Frėjutė, Mpumalanga-born Ndebele artist Esther Mahlangu, Helsinki-born photographer Arno Rafael Minkkinen, and Yogyakarta-based Arahmaiani, whose four-decade practice across performance, installation, and community-based collaboration has made her one of Indonesian contemporary art’s most enduring and widely exhibited figures.
Irene Febry, Bhumi Series (The Earth Series), 2025, mixed media, various dimensions. Photo by F Dharmadi. Image courtesy of the artist and Puri Art Gallery.
Arahmaiani’s presence at Central Stage is part of a wider focus on Indonesian art at the fair. In partnership with Indonesia’s National Talent Management for Arts and Culture, the section Rising Currents brings together eight Indonesian galleries, including EDSU House, ISA Art Gallery, and Puri Art Gallery. Together, they offer a snapshot of the diverse practices shaping the country’s contemporary art scene.
Presented at Art Central 2026, UOB Art Space: Ling Pui Sze, White Mirror – The Vista of the Inner Worlds, 2026, large-scale ink installation. Image courtesy of UOB.
The fair also hosts the Sovereign Art Foundation Students Prize Hong Kong 2026, showcasing 20 shortlisted works by secondary school students alongside the work of established international artists.
Lead Partner UOB marks its tenth year of partnership with Art Central with programmes at the UOB Art Space. The centrepiece is a newly commissioned large-scale installation by Hong Kong artist Ling Pui Sze, titled White Mirror – The Vista of the Inner Worlds (2026). Informed by cellular imagery and research conducted at the University of Cambridge, the work transforms microscopic landscapes into a walkable sculptural garden of hand-made paper and moving image. The UOB Art Space will also showcase 10 works from the 2025 UOB Art in Ink Awards and UOB Painting of the Year.
Ahead of the opening, we also speak with participating galleries to find out about the artworks they are bringing to Art Central 2026.
Square Street Gallery (Hongkong)
Michelle Fung, Did you see any enemy? Where Where Where? (Seal Soldier + Arctic Fish Gun) 你看到哪裏有敵人了嗎?哪裏哪裏哪裏? (海豹士兵+北極魚槍), 2025, acrylic, acrylic markers, colour pencils and carving on wood, 120 x 90cm. Image courtesy of Square Street Gallery.
Square Street Gallery returns to Art Central with two presentations across the fair. In the Central Galleries, a solo booth by Michelle Fung features her Northlandia series, new works made during an Arctic residency in 2026. The paintings depict a dystopian world of 2084, populated by anthropomorphic animals and darkly humorous scenarios that draw parallels with geopolitics and climate change. In the Yi Tai Sculpture and Installation Projects, the gallery will be presenting a commissioned work by OrangeTerry titled Found Faith (2026). The large-scale circular church pew on wheels speaks to the tensions between faith and commerce, welcome and rejection.
During the fair period, Square Street Gallery will host HEX STATE SERVER, Singaporean artist Brandon Tay's first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. It is curated by Institution of Niche and Rafi Abdullah, and organised in collaboration with Yeo Workshop.
Gallery Kimreeaa (Seoul)
Hong Mihee, Fall No.5, 2026, acrylic, paste board, canvas on panel, 90.9 x 72.7cm. Image courtesy of Kimreeaa Gallery.
Kimreeaa Gallery’s booth in the Neo sector features works by Casper Kang, Hwang Do You, and Hong Mihee. Bringing together painting, relief, and sculptural elements, the three artists explore the expanded possibilities of painting as a spatial narrative. For director Kim Se-jung, Art Central represents a pivotal moment for the gallery’s international presence. “Participating in Art Central Hong Kong 2026 marks an important step in extending our relationships into an international offline art fair context,” she elaborates. “We see this not only as a chance to deepen conversations initiated through digital platforms, but also as a starting point for building longer-term relationships that may lead to future exhibitions, collaborations, and broader international engagement for our artists.”
Yi Wei Gallery (Los Angeles, Wuhan)
Alexis Wong, when meandering through the sunken echoes, 2025, mixed-media interactive installation, size variable. Image courtesy of the artist and Yiwei Gallery.
Yiwei Gallery, which has spaces in Los Angeles and Wuhan, has a booth in the C3NTR4L+ sector. Founder Yiwei Lu describes Hong Kong as an ideal platform for the gallery’s cross-cultural mission. “We especially appreciate that Art Central offers a stage for experimentation and is open to new and emerging artists,” she remarks. “The fair has a very dynamic energy, bringing together different audiences, ideas, and practices.” Yiwei Gallery will bring cross-media installations by Alexis Wong, Chan Thirteen, and Yutian Mai, that employ mechanical systems, rotating structures, and sonic environments. Wong is also showing a large-scale installation Sunken Echoes (2026) as part of the Yi Tai Sculpture and Installation Projects, and participating in a panel discussion on 24 March.
Art Central Hong Kong 2026 runs from 25 to 29 March 2026 at the Central Harbourfront, Hong Kong.