The art fair Art Basel Hong Kong (ABHK) has announced a new section debuting at its next edition (25 to 29 March 2026) and its full list of curators—all of them Asia-based for the first time.
The new section, Echoes, will show works made within the last five years. Its inaugural presentation will feature 10 booths by 13 galleries, including a space by the Hong Kong- and London-based Flowers Gallery—featuring works by Movana Chen, Jakkai Siributr and Luka Yuanyuan Yang—and a joint booth by Capsule Shanghai and Klemm’s from Berlin, showing sculptures by Leelee Chan, Elizabeth Jaeger and Yan Xinyue.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the fair’s Encounters section will be organised by a collective headed by Mami Kataoka, the director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, and also including Isabella Tam, the curator of visual art at M+ in Hong Kong; Alia Swastika, a Jakarta-based writer and a curator of the 2025 Sharjah Biennale; and Hirokazu Tokuyama, a senior curator at the Mori Art Museum. ABHK’s film programme will be curated by the celebrated Hong Kong video artist Ellen Pau. ABHK’s Conversations series of talks will be mostly be organised by an in-house team, although with one day put together by Venus Lau, the director of Jakarta’s Museum Macan.
The curators of Art Basel Hong Kong 2026‘s Encounters section, from left: Isabella Tam, Mami Katoaka, Alia Swastika and Hirokazu Tokuyama
Photo: Ben Marans Photography Ltd
The fair also announced today that Art Basel and M+’s fifth annual commission for the M+ façade will be by Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander. The artist will present a hand-painted animation titled 3 to 12 Nautical Miles.
“The appointments reflect our belief in curators who combine local insight with global perspective,” says ABHK’s director Angelle Siyang-Le. “Ellen Pau’s role is particularly significant: for the first time, an artist will curate Art Basel’s film programme. Pau is a visionary whose work has shaped Hong Kong’s cultural landscape and Asia’s media art scene. [In 1986] she co-founded Videotage, a pioneering platform for media art, and [in 1996] launched the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival, which remains a leading forum for art and technology. Her vision reinforces our commitment to moving image and time-based media, positioning Hong Kong at the forefront of global art and innovation.”
Siyang-Le says the fact that ABHK’s curatorial team will be entirely Asia-based for the first time “reflects Art Basel’s commitment to curatorial excellence and innovation, as well as our vision for the region. We believe this team brings diverse perspectives rooted in the region while engaging in global conversations about contemporary art.”
In total, ABHK 2026 is expected to feature 240 galleries from 41 countries and territories, with more than half having spaces in Asia and 29 in Hong Kong. There are due to be 32 newcomers, including Tokyo’s A Lighthouse called Kanata, Istanbul’s Pilevneli, Sydney’s The Commercial and Madrid’s Galería Casado Santapau.
