Art Central Hong Kong 2021

Art Central Hong Kong (ACHK) is a cornerstone event of Hong Kong Art Week. As an annual art fair located in the heart of Hong Kong, it showcases the next generation of talent from Asia’s most innovative galleries, alongside distinguished artists from around the world. In the lead-up to the 2021 edition, Practice Theory was commissioned to develop the identity for the fair.

As development for the 2021 edition began in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we used this obstacle as an opportunity for the fair to leverage upon digital-first communications, further cementing ACHK as a site for new media art and future technologies.

Despite ACHK’s international point-of-view, the fair maintains its roots in Asia and Hong Kong. This inspired our exploration into the familiar (but sadly disappearing) landscape of neon signage in Hong Kong. The fair identity creatively repurposes the corner brackets found within the existing ACHK logo as subtly overlapping tiles, drawing reference to the city’s visual density and paying homage to the graphic language of Hong Kong’s iconic signage.

The overlapping tiles help to anchor the layout while simultaneously delivering information in a fresh and innovative way. Brought to life through animation, the tiles in motion suggest an overarching theme of convergence through its tessellating movement. These kinetic intersections echo Art Central’s position within the art world as the nexus between east and west, old and new; a hub for experimentation and cross-disciplinary expression across the eclectic mediums of art.

We developed a cohesive visual system for ACHK's social media presence in the lead up to the fair.