Cultural and artistic connection between Shanghai, HK deepens

Shanghai and Hong Kong share many common traits – both are Chinese financial hubs with vibrant art scenes.

"Art March" in Hong Kong echoes the November Art Season in Shanghai.

One of the highlights of "Art March" was Art Basel Hong Kong, which was held from March 28 to 30 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Recognized as representing the highest standards of modern and contemporary art, this year's edition featured over 240 international galleries from 42 countries and regions.

Renowned Shanghai-based galleries such as ShanghART, BANK, and Vanguard joined the fair. The event also attracted collectors, curators, as well as the organizers of ART021 and the West Bund Art Fair from Shanghai in Hong Kong.

For many local art lovers in Hong Kong, the Picasso exhibition is another attraction.

Co-organized by M+ and the Musée National Picasso-Paris with major sponsors including CHUBB, it is the first major Picasso exhibition in the island city in over a decade.

The "Picasso for Asia: A Conversation" exhibition features more than 60 original works by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) on loan from the Paris museum, plus 80 works from M+'s collection by 30 Asian and diasporic Asian artists, as well as select loans from other museums, foundations and private collections, offering a cross-cultural and intergenerational dialogue between the 20th-century European master and contemporary Asian artists.

Running through July 13, the show is on at M+ in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Today, M+, the contemporary visual culture museum, has become Asia's second most popular art museum just three years after its opening.

The special exhibition aims to tell why Picasso is regarded as the most emblematic artist of the 20th century and examines how his artistic career and life continue to influence contemporary artists and the general public.

Divided into four archetypes: "The Genius,","The Outsider," "The Magician" and "The Apprentice," the exhibition reflects Picasso's powerful paradigms that provoke diverse responses from contemporary Asian artists through their varied personal practices.

Visitors would find Picasso's celebrated masterpieces such as Portrait of a Man (1902-1903), The Acrobat (1930), Figures by the Sea (1931), Still Life on a Pedestal Table (1931), Portrait of Dora Maar (1937), Massacre in Korea (1951), and the sculpture series The Bathers (1956).

These works engage in dialogue with M+ collections, featuring pieces by artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Luis Chan, Gu Dexin, Nalini Malani, Keiichi Tanaami, and Haegue Yang, alongside newly commissioned works by Simon Fujiwara and Sin Wai Kin.

The cultural and artistic interaction between Hong Kong and Shanghai is continuously deepening.

On March 6, the Hong Kong West Kowloon Cultural District Authority announced that it will host the "2025 Shanghai West Kowloon Cultural Week" (referred to as "Shanghai West Kowloon Week") in mid-June in Shanghai.

The Shanghai West Kowloon Week would showcase the new developments in Hong Kong's arts and culture to audiences in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region, marking the beginning of innovative collaborations between the two cities in cultural and artistic fields.

On the list is the original Cantonese musical "The Last Gentleman," which will be performed at the Shanghai Culture Square from June 17 to 29.

Organized by the Hong Kong Palace Museum, "Urban Pulse – Reinterpretation of Traditional Chinese Culture" will be on display at Shanghai's Zhangyuan Garden from June 20 to July 31. The exhibition will reinterpret classical Chinese gardens and landscapes, exploring the profound cultural connections between Hong Kong and Shanghai.