Sundaram Tagore Gallery Opens its First Overseas Gallery in Hong Kong:
Bridging West and East culture
Sundaram Tagore, the US-based art guru has set up his first overseas gallery in Hong Kong in response to an approach by InvestHK. His Hong Kong gallery will serve as a base for expansion in the region and promoting cultural exchange between the East and West.
Sundaram Tagore an art historian, collector, curator and dealer comes from 14 generations of artists and authors and is the great-grandson of Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the fist non-western Nobel Prize winner. He founded his first art gallery in New York, eight years ago in 2000. For a number of years he has had his eyes set on the growing Asian market. “The Chinese market is growing; there are a lot of rich and educated Chinese who appreciate art today,” he explained. This is why his first overseas gallery is in Hong Kong, the hub of the region and gateway to China. The 2,000 square-foot gallery is located in Hollywood Road, the heart of Hong Kong’s art and gallery district and Chinese antique shops.
“We chose Hong Kong because it is a world city and one of the easiest places to do business. Even as an outsider, I have a sense of what Hong Kong is like,” Sundaram said. His other key reasons for choosing Hong Kong were, English being the language of business in the city, high purchasing power of locals and tourists and Hong Kong’s tax-friendly environment. He did consider other places in Asia, such as Shanghai and Dubai., “The fluency in English of most Hong Kong people really counts. Unlike in Shanghai, it was great that I do not need to depend on an interpreter for every tiny thing.” He also revealed that Dubai, where officials had tried to entice him with a 5,500 square foot place in a prime spot at half the going rent, was not good enough either. “I can’t open the business in somewhere I am not so familiar with.” Hong Kong’s transport infrastructure, logistics and extensive experience in handling art also contributed to making Hong Kong the best choice.
Hong Kong’s reputation as the place where East meets West;,fits perfectly with the gallery’s mission: to promote and celebrate cultural difference, creating global dialogue through art. “Others are market-driven, we are mission-and vision-driven” Sundaram said. As a ”dialogue” gallery, he is looking for artists who have exposure to different cultures and apply a diversity of colours, textures and painting techniques to engage viewers in an exchange of ideas. Ten artists from around the world are featured in the gallery’s debut showing. Sundaram Tagore Galleries are not merely art shops but cultural spaces in which artists come together and share their experiences. “You are beginning to see some good art here. But you need to galvanise the right kind of people - people not just with money but also with culture. Hong Kong probably has many of them; if the right kind of people are brought together they can build cultural organizations that become an institution,” he commented.
Sundaram’s galleries in New York and Los Angeles combine visual arts with other types of expression, including poetry readings, dance performances, music and film, he has similar plans for his new outlet in Hong Kong. The gallery is not going to exhibit Chinese Mainland art, which is currently in high demand, but instead he wants to help further develop the local art scene in Hong Kong by promoting local artists in the Hong Kong gallery and abroad. Sundaram said he has been negotiating with a group of promising but little-known Hong Kong artists about taking their cutting-edge artworks to cultural exhibitions in New York and Beverly Hills.
To ensure Hong Kong remains a cultural cosmopolitan city, InvestHK has been proactively promoting the art and cultural business opportunities to attract overseas experience to the city. A number of overseas art schools including universities from the United States, are interested in setting up a campus, an office or even offering joint programmes with local institutions in Hong Kong. The programmes are not restricted to the traditional art subjects, but would also include new art disciplines such as digital art and design. This initiative will create future generations of artists for Sundaram Tagore Galleries to exhibit.
www.sundaramtagore.com