Hong Kong’s Art March celebrations press on amid Middle East conflict disruptions

Most overseas galleries were able to attend Hong Kong’s two annual art fairs, part of the much-anticipated Art March celebration, despite the conflict in the Middle East, though questions remain over how participants and artworks will leave the city as air travel continues to face heavy disruption.Organisers and logistics suppliers told the China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">South China Morning Post that many inbound visitors would inevitably have to divert their journeys as interchange airports in Doha and Dubai were disrupted.Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has also cancelled flights to and from the Gulf region for two months, until the end of April.Zohra Azi, chief of staff at home-grown art handling and storage company Eythos, said there had been little impact on freight costs and logistics for the galleries the firm works with for this edition of Art Basel Hong Kong.Most works were shipped before the conflict and there was time to organise new routes, she added.“The only impact that might be for Hong Kong is the number of overseas visitors. A lot of them would travel via the Middle East. It may help the Chinese airlines – instead of flying via Doha, they would fly via Shanghai,” she said.