The inaugural Hong Kong Art Gallery Week presented by The Hong Kong Art Gallery Association (HKAGA) and sponsored by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Private Banking, will bring together a series of art events from November 20 to 28.

As this year marks the debut of the art-focused week, we decided to put together a guide to our top picks for Hong Kong Art Gallery Week events and exhibitions from Island South to Kwai Chung.

November 19 (Tuesday)
Make your way down to Duddell’s for the opening toast and cocktail reception to kick off Hong Kong Art Gallery Week. The cocktail toasting commences at 5pm followed by a free-flowing cash bar to celebrate the evening.

November 21 (Thursday)
A breakfast with art market specialists Martin Bremond of ArtPrice, Alexandre Errera of ArtShare and Ingrid Dudek of Christie’s will kick off the series of events. Limited seats are available for the 10 Chancery Lane Gallery event, so make sure you reserve your place.

The evening will also see the kick off of Christie’s series of Art Forum events with a seminar titled “In Conversation with Atul Dodiya”. The artist will conduct the seminar at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 5pm-6pm.

November 22 (Friday)
Friday is highlighted with a continuation of Art Forum seminars at the HKCEC, including “Qi Baishi – A Life in Art” and “The Global Artist: East meets West”. The seminars are set to take place at 9:30am and 5pm, respectively.

Later in the evening, the first of two art gallery nights, “Art After Hours”, featuring art buses around Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai and Island South, will see all 49 of the galleries open to show off their respective exhibitions. The first bus departs at 6pm from HKCEC and will continue to make rounds until 10pm.

November 23 (Saturday)
The last of Christie’s art forum seminars will occur on Saturday, with “The Fei Dawei Archive – Curating Contemporary Chinese Art Overseas in the 1990s” and will be presented by Asia Art Archive, run by Claire Hsu-Vuchot. The lecture will be conducted in English with simultaneous translation in Mandarin and will be held at 10:30am at the HKCEC.

The day will also feature an art walk of sorts with all 49 participating galleries opening their doors to visitors in Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai and Island South. Art buses, providing a hop-on, hop-off service, will be making the rounds from 11am-5pm.

November 25 (Monday)
A studio visit with Fang Lijun, followed by a warehouse visit to Hanart Square and Ora-Ora studio in Kwai Chung will commence at 4pm with a bus departing from the HKCEC at 3pm. Running until 7pm that same evening, the visits will provide guests with insights into the lives of artists and gallery directors.

November 28 (Thursday)
This day marks the end to the illustrious week of artist exhibitions, seminars and art walks and will come to a close with a party at Shore. The event starts at 7pm with a closing toast scheduled for 7:30pm.

Some of our favourite exhibitions that you won’t want to miss throughout the week include the rare and seminal paintings by Tetsuya Ishida shown at Gagosian Gallery, Korean artist Do-Ho Suh at Lehmann Maupin, Brian Brake’s beautiful photography at Koru Contemporary Art, and a compilation of works by Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami shown at Kumquat Gallery. TC Lai will also be headlining at Alisan Fine Arts, open on the week’s Saturday from 2-5pm, Marc Quinn will be showing some of his most famous pieces at White Cube, and British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare will be showcasing his works at Pearl Lam Galleries. Don't forget to also miss the Andante exhibition at Opera Gallery featuring three Italian contemporary artists.

Hong Kong Art Gallery Week
Date: November 20 to 28, 2013

RSVP mandatory for all Christie’s Art Forum events at events@christies.com as well as for the breakfast talks and gallery tours at hkartgalleryweek@gmail.com

For more information, visit www.hk-aga.org