Since the announcement of ART HK 08, the first truly international contemporary and modern art fair to be staged in Hong Kong, fair organiser Asian Art Fairs Ltd is delighted to confirm the participation of an impressive roster of leading Asian and international galleries. The first round of vetting has produced a big cross-section of global galleries, ranging from Hong Kong contemporary pioneer Hanart TZ and the high profile 10 Chancery Lane gallery to seasoned international art fair exhibitors such as PKM and Kukje Galleries from Seoul, Max Lang from New York and London’s Albion Gallery, as well as European representation from cities such as Berlin, Dusseldorf, Madrid and Zurich. The fair will introduce Asian collectors to established and emerging artists from the West, as well as showcasing new art from Asia and around the world to a global audience. “The excellent exhibitor response is clearly a reflection both of the current ascendancy of the Asian contemporary art market and the fact that Hong Kong is now the third largest art market in the world by auction sales after New York and London. With no tax on the import and export of art, it has the clear advantage over mainland China, which suffers from a punitive import tax of 34%,” says Dr Charles Merewether, the fair’s Advisory Group Chairman. Dr Charles Merewether. Whilst China is enjoying a boom of arts activity – a new art district in Beijing, a flowering of public and private galleries, worldwide acclaim for contemporary artists - Hong Kong is experiencing its own local arts renaissance. It sees a long-term investment in culture and the arts as essential to the sustainable development of the Citycity. Planning for the West Kowloon Cultural District with its super museum M+ and now the realisation of the first contemporary and modern art fair are all part of this development. Importantly, Hong Kong not only has its own wealthy Chinese and expat community, but its position at the heart of Asia, within easy reach of mainland China and the seasoned art collectors of Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Japan, makes it the obvious location for an art fair. “We want to host a fair that reflects Hong Kong’s status as a gateway for Asia and the West. Working with our excellent advisory group, we have been building local support from non-profit organisations, local galleries and the government. There is now a level of excitement about the fair and a real desire to make this work,” says Magnus Renfrew, Fair Director. “Two worlds are colliding before our eyes and it is an incredibly exciting time. This may only be the beginning of Asian collectors buying western art, but it is a beginning that the West would be foolish to ignore.” Renfrew’s role as fair director follows a year spent running celebrated art patron Pearl Lam’s gallery Contrasts in Shanghai, with its emphasis on creating a new aesthetic out of the mingling of Eastern and Western art. He was also instrumental in bringing to fruition the highly successful first London sale of Contemporary Asian Art at Bonhams in June 2006. Advisory board group member Philip Dodd says: " This new art fair has the same ambition as Hong Kong itself: to be open to the west and the east; to be enamoured about with the next generation whilst acknowledging tradition and heritage; to be glamorous and serious - a one-stop shop where the best of the world, both east and west, can be seen."