EDITOR’S LETTER
The arrival in town this month of Art Basel – and a real, live Art Basel at that, one that we can actually visit in person – must surely be a cause for celebration, not only among art lovers but for an entire community that’s been bottled up for more than a year, desperate to go out and actually do something. Just as important, the Asian staging of what’s certainly the world’s pre-eminent marketplace for modern and contemporary art has brought in its wake a plethora of other shows and events, from Art Central to countless exhibitions in galleries around Hong Kong – so many, in fact, that we can all heartily welcome the return of what’s come to be known as Art Month.
It’s in that same spirit that we’ve designated this copy of Prestige that you hold in your hand Elswhere in this issue, we present a run-down of the Art Basel programme, meet local curator Ying Kwok, who tells us how the shows she presents can help nurture emerging talents, and from Ben Brown, who’s just opening up a third gallery – in Palm Beach, Florida – after spaces in London and Hong Kong, we get his thoughts on how the Covid-19 crisis has changed the art world. With NFTs – or, for the uninitiated, nonfungible tokens – now commanding huge prices at auction, we ask whether they represent an asset class worth investing in (which, of course, is aside from the very pertinent question as to whether they can be considered works of art at all). Yvonne Fong, who heads Simon Lee Gallery in Hong Kong, tells us about her own personal style, and we recount the almostfour-decade-long history of the BMW Art Car project. And if you’re not wild about art? Fear not, there’s still our customary mix of fashion, jewellery, timepieces – including our pick of the recent Watches & Wonders releases – personalities, social events (at long last!), food and drink. We hope, as always, that you enjoy the read.