Hong Kong’s art dealers experimenting with digital marketing say the move is starting to pay dividends, even as the Covid-19 pandemic and last year’s social unrest continue to plague the local market.

Macey and Sons, an auctioneer and valuer, has seen an uplift in business after it started using virtual marketing in December. “We do a lot of FaceTime with clients,” said founder Jonathan Macey. “You can sit in your house and the gallery comes to you.”

He added that all the galleries in Hong Kong were doing it now and that “this is the way forward”.

Art dealers acknowledged that the last eight months have been difficult for Hong Kong’s vibrant market as the protests had dented the city’s reputation, with the coronavirus outbreak delivering another massive blow.

According to the Art Market 2020 report by Art Basel and UBS released on March 6, Hong Kong’s auction market plunged 25% in 2019, much steeper than the 9% decline in China. It was the second year of double-digit declines in value in Hong Kong, after sales reached their highest ever level in 2017, the report said.

The overall global art market too was slightly subdued last year, with sales falling 5% from 2018 to US$64.1bil . Some 58% of the sales were done by galleries.

British auction house Christie’s reported that its Hong Kong live auctions sales fell from HK$5.96bil in 2018 to HK$5.3bil in 2019. Francis Belin, Christie’s president of Asia-Pacific, said his firm was weathering the tough times, adding that about 40% of new buyers were being recruited through online channels, and most of that growth was in Asia.

As online and social media channels become popular with younger collectors, Art Power HK, a joint initiative by the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association and Asia Society, said it plans to create a website to offer digital content to create interest among art collectors and provide a way for galleries to promote their artists without the benefit of shows.

Art Basel, too, is launching an online viewing room this month, which will showcase exhibitors that would have been at the Hong Kong show. The event was cancelled because of Covid-19 concerns.

“Of course, this will not replace the physical fair, but it will hopefully still generate some interest and excitement,” said Daphne King Yao, director of Alisan Fine Arts.

The cancellation of Art Basel was followed by the spring edition of the Asia Contemporary Art Show and Art Central, while the Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong has been postponed from May to August.

“Art fairs are of huge significance to dealers and galleries and account for close to half of the value of turnover in the sector,” said Clare McAndrew, founder of Art Economics and author of the annual Art Market Report.

Howard Bilton, chairman of the Sovereign Art Foundation and a well-known collector, said that following the Covid-19 outbreak there was no choice but to cancel these events, as many of the galleries were threatening to pull out and it would not be safe to have the main target buyers visit from China.

“This will be a major blow in what has already been difficult trading condition for many galleries,” he said.

Catherine Kwai, co-president of Hong Kong Art Gallery Association, echoed the sentiment.

“This year is a terrible year,” said Kwai. “Even for rich clients, there’s just too much bad information and news. We still have business, but they are buying at a much more cautious level.”

Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, acknowledged that these setbacks were hard for the art market but Hong Kong will overcome such challenges. “Hong Kong will bounce back and its position as the region’s primary art hub will remain unchanged,” he said.

 - SCMP