Art Basel Hong Kong have announced the participation of 245 of the world’s leading galleries for the first edition of this newly bought fair. Deutsche Bank is the lead sponsor. The fair will take place Thursday, May 23, to Sunday, May 26, 2013 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). With an emphasis on the highest quality of work and presentation, art by more than 3,000 artists will be showcased – ranging from young stars to the Modern masters of the early 20th century, hailing from both Asia and the West.

The line-up takes on a diverse selection of galleries from 35 countries and territories across the globe: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Over 50 percent of the participating galleries are from Asia and the Asia-Pacific region - spanning from Turkey, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, across Asia and encompassing Australia and New Zealand. The first edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong will feature 28 galleries with exhibition spaces in Hong Kong and marks the first appearance at a fair in Hong Kong for 48 galleries.

The show will be presented across four sectors: Galleries, Insights, Discoveries and Encounters. Galleries, the main sector of Art Basel’s Hong Kong edition, will present 171 Modern and contemporary art galleries, selected on the strength of their overall gallery program. The sector presents the highest-quality paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and editioned works from both the 20th and 21st centuries. The Galleries sector will feature a strong presence by Modern art galleries from Asia and the West. Significant work from the past 100 years will be featured, providing an opportunity for visitors to discover and explore contemporary and historical art from different regions, cultures and aesthetic backgrounds.

For a full list of exhibitors, please visit artbasel.com. Within this sector, galleries from across Asia are joined by leading galleries from Europe and the United States to present their rich and diverse exhibition programs. Exhibitors coming for the first time to Hong Kong from the West include 303 Gallery, New York; Ameringer McEnery Yohe, New York; Andréhn- Schiptjenko, Stockholm; Cecilia de Torres, Ltd., New York; Dirimart, Istanbul; Dominique Levy Gallery, New York; Galerie OMR, Mexico City; Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon; Johnen Galerie, Berlin; Mayoral Galeria D’Art, Barcelona; Peter Blum Gallery, New York; and Wentrup, Berlin. The Insights sector, sited at the heart of both floor levels, will present 47 galleries from Asia and the Asia-Pacific region with curatorial projects developed specifically for the show.

This sector is conceived to promote a curatorial mindset and encourage precise contextual and thematic presentations of many important artists from the art scene in Asia over the last 100 years. Presenting a mix of solo shows, exceptional historical material, and strong thematic group exhibitions, Insights will be a destination for visitors eager to learn more about art from across the Asia and Asia-Pacific regions, diverse histories, ideas and aesthetics. The sector will feature strong representation from Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan, alongside galleries from India, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Turkey, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai). Highlights include presentations by Galeri Canna, Jakarta (Entang Wiharso); Magician Space, Beijing (Guan Yong, Jiang Zhi, Liu Zhuoquan, Zhuang Hui and Dan'er); Neon Parc, Melbourne (Katherine Huang); Tolarno, Melbourne (Martin Bell and Brendan Huntley); and Xin Dong Cheng Gallery, Beijing (Wang Gongxin and Li Yongbin). Hong Kong will be represented by Blindspot Gallery (Stanley Wong), Feast projects (T'ang Haywen), Galerie Ora-Ora (Halley Cheng) and Schoeni Art Gallery (Hung Keung). The sector introduces 10 galleries new to Hong Kong, including two each from Indonesia, China and Japan. The Discoveries sector will present a particularly strong showcase of solo and two-person exhibitions by emerging contemporary artists from across the world with an accompanying 25,000 USD Discoveries prize, which will be awarded to one artist presented within this sector.

The 27 participating galleries include Karma International, Zurich (Thomas Sauter); Mendes Wood, São Paulo (Lucas Arruda); mother’s tankstation, Dublin (Brendan Earley); Saamlung, Hong Kong (Joan Vasco Paiva); Take Ninagawa, Tokyo (Ryoko Aoki); Weingrull, Karlsruhe (Benjamin Appel); Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong (Lam Tung Pang); and 2P Contemporary Art Gallery, Hong Kong (Tang Kwok Hin). Discoveries will feature 14 galleries exhibiting for the first time in Hong Kong: BolteLang, Zurich (Benjamin Senior); Balice Hertling, Paris (Alexander May); Galleria S.A.L.E.S, Rome (Avish Khebrehzadeh); Lisa Cooley, New York (Erin Shireff); Monitor, Rome (Adam Avikainen); Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (Francesca DiMattio); Juliette Jongma, Amsterdam (Nina Yuen); Kalfayan, Athens (Hrair Sarkissian); Galeria Plan B, Cluj (Navid Nuur); RaebervonStenglin, Zurich (David Keating); Galleryske, Bangalore (Mariam Suhail); Utopian Slumps, Melbourne (Sanne Mestrom); Workplace Gallery, Tyne & Wear (Marcus Coates); and Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai (Wei Chen). The Encounters sector will provide visitors with the opportunity to see artworks on an institutional scale, presenting large-scale sculptural and installation pieces by leading artists from around the world, sited in prominent locations throughout the two exhibition halls. Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo and curator of Sharjah Biennial 11, will curate the sector in 2013. Further details on the works in the Encounters sector will be released in the coming months.

The Selection Committee for Art Basel in Hong Kong is comprised of renowned international gallerists: Emi Eu, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore; Shireen Gandhy, Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai; Suzie Kim, Kukje Gallery, Seoul; Maho Kubota, Scai The Bathhouse, Tokyo; David Maupin, Lehmann Maupin, New York; Urs Meile, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing & Lucerne; Massimo De Carlo, Milan; Zhang Wei, Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou & Beijing. The experts for the Discoveries sector are Atsuko Ninagawa, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo, and Finola Jones, mother's tankstation, Dublin. The expert for Modern Art is Mathias Rastorfer, Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich. Art Basel has a long history of dynamic exhibition and talk programs accompanying its shows. In Hong Kong, Art Basel will offer extensive opportunities to learn about the latest developments in contemporary art, as well as exploring the history of Modern and contemporary art from Asia and worldwide. Conversations, the long-established morning program of talks and panel discussions, presented in collaboration with Absolut Art Bureau, offers audiences first-hand access to renowned cultural speakers and opinion-formers from across the international artworld.

Complementing the Conversations program, the afternoon Salon series serves as a platform for shorter, more freestyle presentations, including artist talks, panel discussions, lectures and book launches. Asia Art Archive will also be staging an independent parallel program of talks, taking place onsite daily during the fair. Further details on all the talks programming will be released in the coming months. Art Basel will be working closely with key cultural organizations across the city, including Asia Art Archive (AAA); the Asia Society; M+, Hong Kong’s future museum for visual culture; Para/Site Art Space and Spring Workshop, offering an associated program of events throughout Hong Kong that will take place during the week of the shows. Further details on Conversations and the city-wide exhibitions will be released in the coming months. Art Basel's commitment to Hong Kong’s cultural profile has also extended to the expansion of its network of international VIP Relations Managers in Asia over the last year. Now numbering 24 people world-wide, Art Basel’s VIP team will be working to promote Hong Kong as one of the leading global art centers to cultural institutions and collectors in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Luxembourg, Mainland China, Mexico, the Middle East, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States.