“I WANT TO BE A FORCE THAT DRIVES THE DISCOVERY AND APPRECIATION FOR A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF ARTISTS”
A STAPLE IN HONG KONG’S ART SCENE, QUEENIE ROSITA LAW HAS TURNED HER EYE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS TO DISCOVERING NEW ARTISTS IN UNEXPECTED REGIONS AND GROWING HER COMPANY TO ENCOMPASS ALL AREAS OF THE ART BUSINESS. SHE OPENS UP TO STEPHANIE IP ABOUT HER ACTIVITIES AND AMBITIONS
Alot of people take pen to paper to express their thoughts through words, Rournaling self reAEections and daily entries to make sense of themselves and the world around them. )rtists such as 9ueenie :osita 4aw take to drawing. ¹1 grew uX as a very shy child, and drawing and painting were the only ways for my parents to understand me,º says 4aw. ¹1 used to be so quiet that they brought me to see a doctor to analyse my drawings... growing uX 1 have always used art as a way to express.”
Now she’s in her mid-thirties, art is still her happiest medium. )lthough she’s no longer the shy child she once was, her creativity hasn’t waned and art continues to be her outlet through times of celebration, trauma and loss. *ut today, rather than focussing only on creating art that Xersonifies her own struggles, she’s giving a Xlatform to talented artists elsewhere, whose worSs sXeaS to her but are yet to be discovered by the world.
4aw comes from one of 0ong 3ong’s wealthiest and most well Snown families. 0er grandfather, 4aw In 2015, she was taken from her home, an ordeal that she wrote about in a memoir she Xublished in . ) graduate of graXhic design at +entral ;aint 5artins, 4aw hadn’t envisioned an exact career Xath for herself while she was still a student. ¹?hen 1 was in school, art was purely what kept me up every day and night. I never thought much about my future · it was all about the Xresent,º she says. ¹)fter graduation, 1 struggled to find my own career Xath and 1 exXerimented with a lot of creative Robs, but none of them seemed to fit my character or my ambition.º )lthough the +ity *ooS is no longer Xrinted, it was significant because the booS ¹was the beginning of my discovery artists and their stories,º says 4aw. ¹ 4aw has always loved travelling and exXloring new Xlaces and things, but 8aris, :ome and 4ondon did not interest her. 1nstead, it was ;erbia and 8oland that caXtured her heart. *acS from her travels, her friends would revel in the stories she would tell about the XeoXle she met, the artworSs that she saw, living vicariously through her to exXerience these faraway destinations that were not yet on their radar. ;oon after, 4aw found herself in *udaXest, 0ungary. ¹ has travelled extensively around the region to build her own Xersonal collection, visit artist studios and discover hidden talents. 4aw wanted to emulate the late 8eggy /uggenheim, the art patron she looked up to, who dared to work with artists who were nobodies at the beginning but later became maRor figures in the history and develoXment of th century art · XeoXle such as 2acSson 8ollocS, +lyfford ;till and 5ax -rnst. ¹;he saw in their worSs what others didn’t see,º says 4aw. 1n +-- art, 4aw saw her oXXortunity. “I grew up as a very shy child, and drawing and painting were the only ways for my parents to understand me. I used to be so quiet that they brought me to see a doctor to analyse my drawings” ¹1t’s so Xure, because there wasn’t much commercial success in the marSet, as the whole of -astern -uroXe was so closed off after the ;econd ?orld ?ar ° but when you saw their art, you saw their struggle and how they SeXt going and creating. 1 really love that energy and I think it’s so powerful,” she says. 1f +-- art was virtually unSnown to 4aw uX to this Xoint, then so too was it uncharted territory for the rest of us. 1n each country she visited · 0ungary, 8oland, :omania, ;erbia, +roatia, ;lovenia, ;lovaSia, the +bech :eXublic · everyone seemed focussed on their own art and XarticiXated in the local art scene only. )n idea began to form in her head. It was a rare opportunity for her to develoX an art sXace with an art collection, dedicated to showcasing the contemXorary art from the whole +-region and to the world. ;he grabbed the chance without hesitation. ?ith a new vision in mind, 4aw formed 9 )rt /rouX, Xresenting a new and unique aXXroach to art in that it serves as a central hub, a Xoint of connection, for distinct yet comXlementary enterXrises. 9 )rt /rouX encomXasses 4aw’s ambitions of increasing exXosure for emerging and often under aXXreciated artists. 9 +ontemXorary is a contemXorary art museum and a hub of cultural education Xrogrammes in *udaXest# ,ouble 9 is a 0ong 3ong gallery that’s still in the worSs# and 9 ;tudio is a continuation of her business in luxury branding and besXoSe art for commercial clients. 1t’s a huge undertaSing, but 4aw is unfabed. “I love art in all its forms and I inherited my father’s Xassion for starting businesses, so 1 want to continue growing my business around my love for art,º she says. ¹1 want to build an art ecosystem Cof elementsE that can co exist with each other and comXlement each other, liSe building a grouX with different entities under the same umbrella that share a similar mission and identity. ¹1 want to adoXt the same format for my art business. 1 want to build a grouX that can create art, exhibit art and sell art · art that sXeaSs to you and is a Xart of your daily life.” +oming from a family of successful entreXreneurs, strong minded individuals who are business driven, has no doubt given 4aw tremendous foresight and courage. 1n fact, the biggest advice that her father gave her was to ¹Rust try, get out there, maSe the first move, and SeeX doing it again and again. If you fail, you’ll learn and you won’t make the same mistake again.” 0er family remains her biggest suXXorters. 1ndeed, 4aw says she not only never had any Xressure from her “My dad has been my number-one fan since day one. He pushes me and at the same time leaves me space and freedom to explore” Xarents to follow in any of their established businesses but was encouraged to forge her own Xath. ¹5y dad has been my number one fan since day one. 0e Xushes me and at the same time leaves me sXace and freedom to exXlore,º she says. 0er first ever drawing · of a suXermarSet, which she created as a child · still hangs in her Xarents’ bedroom. ?ithin the 4aw family, business is never far from the dinner table. ¹6inety Xercent of the conversation at dinner surrounds business, ideas and advice,º she says. )nd that’s XerhaXs why there’s Xrobably no one who could have done what 4aw did in *udaXest, which seemingly required a very Xrecise combination of artistic foresight, business acumen and fearlessness, something in retrosXect that she finds amusing. ¹1t’s Sind of funny,º she says, ¹because looSing bacS, it all started as a very naïve way of doing things. Naïve in the sense that 1 didn’t question things and 1 Rust did it. ;o when 1 first went to *udaXest, it was really because of exXloring the city. 1 was doing the +ity *ooS and I wanted to interview different artists over there. And then I met a lot of artists and I realised there’s a lot of artistic talent, but they don’t have oXXortunities. ¹) year after that Rourney, 1 went bacS to *udaXest and found and acquired this building. )nd it then tooS me another six months to a year travelling around the region to understand what really was missing. I had a vision and I went with it. I didn’t have any staff or friends or any connections in *udaXest to get me there.’ 0er hard worS has definitely Xaid off. -arlier this year, she successfully brought +-- art to 0ong 3ong for the first time via a collaboration with 3 )rt Foundation on 9 +ontemXorary’s first XoX uX exhibition, Tracing the Fragments, which also drew on discernible ties between +-- art and +hinese contemXorary art. 1t’s a taste of what’s to come when ,ouble 9 /allery, the final Xhase of 4aw’s Xlan to define her art emXire, oXens in 0ong 3ong at the end of the year. ¹,ouble 9 /allery will be Xowered by the discoveries of 9 +ontemXorary,º says 4aw, who’s found her calling in reXresenting the artists that she discovered during her travels, who had talent in abundance but until now, lacSed oXXortunities. ¹1 started my comXany out of my own Xassion of creating my own art, and Cmy missionE has greatly evolved,º she says. ¹1t used to be more about what 1 wanted to do, but now 1’d consider how 1’m going to do it effectively ° in five years, 1 want to continue to create this international Xlatform that identifies, cultivates and Xromotes talented artists. 1 want to be a force that drives the discovery and aXXreciation of a whole new generation of artists.”