The British auctioneer is planning a fourfold increase its galleries and saleroom space in the territory amid booming sales.
Christie's will be moving its Asia Pacific headquarters to a 50,000 square foot space in the Zaha Hadid-designed «Henderson» building in Central, which will open in 2024, in response to global market demand, it announced on Tuesday.
Its future headquarters will have 30,000 square feet of galleries and salerooms, up from 7,000 square feet currently. This will provide Christie’s with the flexibility to transform the sales and events schedule from two main seasons a year to year-round programming, and to embrace opportunities for greater creativity and innovation, the announcement said.
Booming Sales
The expansion «underscores Christie’s confidence in Hong Kong as the preeminent art and culture hub in Asia, but also testifies to the strong resilience of the art market in the region and beyond,» the auction house said in the announcement.
«Hong Kong is the art centre,» Christie's Asia Pacific president Francis Belin told «Reuters.» «Nothing has dented the confidence in the art market here,» he said.
Christie's recorded $458 million in sales in Hong Kong in May – its highest since 2013. At the same time, Asia accounted for a record 39 percent, or over $1 billion, of global sales, up from 20-25 percent pre-pandemic, surpassing Europe and North America, «Reuters» reported. Christie's also sold $100 million in digital art in the first half of 2021, including a record-breaking sale for a non-fungible token (NFT.)
