A new generation of art patrons and collectors in Hong Kong is not only willing to support the growth of the city’s art ecosystem but wants to shape it further. In many cases, they have even deliberately distanced themselves from many of the traditional forms of support for the arts to embrace other forms of community-based participation. One of Hong Kong’s leading art support platforms, the Cheng-Lan Foundation, opened its first space during Art Basel Hong Kong: Cheng-Lan’s Corner, a ground floor gallery at 3 Prince’s Terrace in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels, just steps from the Tai Kwun cultural complex. Behind it are two art patrons in their 30s, Brian Yue and Claire Bi, who founded Cheng-Lan in 2023 with the aim of working at the intersection of private collecting and public relations, supporting artists from around the world and diaspora communities.
Yue traces the foundation’s ethos back to both her academic and professional backgrounds. The couple literally met during the Art Basel show—”art has always been a great connection for us,” she told the Observer. Bi’s parents were art lovers. He studied filmmaking, and that’s how he began to understand art as a way of expressing himself. “I’ve always felt that art should be accessible to the public, to everyone around us, not just in the arts. Nine years ago, Bi founded a residential secondary school where art is woven into all subjects—from design and technology to social science and public policy—rather than being treated as separate subjects.
Yue, on the other hand, grew up in a family heavily influenced by his grandfather, an ancient Chinese teacher whose bedtime stories revolved around the great works of Chinese art and literature. “There was a deep respect for history and what happened before,” he recalled. Yue went on to study architecture and spent his university years immersing himself in London’s community of artists and creatives, later working for a company specializing in public-facing cultural projects—museums, exhibitions and cultural strategies. He then pursued a second master’s degree in art history, in part to deepen his understanding of the issues he encountered on the job, particularly as the company developed exhibits dealing with race, colonialism, imperialism and slavery. “These are difficult lessons without the knowledge to unravel them properly,” he admitted, adding that it is important for him to be involved in the lessons while using that knowledge when practicing. He felt a real responsibility to the community—something he still feels today with the opening of the Cheng-Lan Foundation. “Everything we do, we think about who we are talking to and what our responsibility is in that.”
This attitude shapes the art collected by Yue and Bi and the program in Cheng-Lan’s Corner; in both cases, they prioritize artists whose actions work and engage with the complex tapestry of human history. “There’s a conversation at the heart of everything we do,” explains Yue, recounting how, on the way to the interview, he and Bi went through a list of artists in their collection and asked each other a few questions. Does the biography represent something important to the discussion? Is it a habit itself? Is it the message, or the words the artist is speaking? “It’s a combination. It’s a reflection of all of us,” Bi added, acknowledging that Maria Chitu, an arts consultant and cultural strategist who joined the conversation, played a key role in helping shape their vision into a program.
Filipino artist Cian Dayrit’s inaugural exhibition, “A Country, a Body,” exemplifies this idea and approach. Drawing on archival research and collaboration with rural and Indigenous communities, Dayrit’s latest body of work examines the country’s history of colonialism, land dispossession and power transfer. Through a series of engravings, drawings and sculptures that include a pronounced mix of historical maps, military photographs, botanical images and vernacular materials, he engages in both anthropological and sociological analysis at the intersection of art, geopolitics and history, uncovering the legacies of colonial migration, rethinking systems and our relationship with the world while opening up a working relationship with the world.
Bi and Yue decided to focus on global pluralism as a central part of their identity and as a framework for how they engage with today’s global world. “We are both from China, he grew up in Hong Kong, I studied in the US, he studied in the UK, now we are both back. That concept of being between countries is very much present,” said Bi. Their sense of intercultural navigation is inseparable from the kind of platform they want to build: one that can foster cultural dialogue and creative exchange rather than reinforce divisions.
Cheng-Lan’s Corner will host solo presentations, commissioned exhibitions and group exhibitions drawn from the foundation’s permanent collection. The arrangement will be made in collaboration with the artists and created under the specific conditions in which they work. The desire, Yue added, is to be a space to host a collection of voices rather than a platform for any one.
Bi and Yue see being a small organization without the support of a large conglomerate not as a limitation but as an opportunity. They are able to respond—to the people they meet, to the programs worth supporting—in ways that a rigid institutional framework would not allow. Designed to work at the intersection of private collection and public consultation, Cheng-Lan’s Corner was designed to be not just an addition to the area but an integral part of the cultural fabric, embedded in a dense public system capable of interacting with its diverse communities and their diverse needs. The first exhibition is already an example: Dayrit’s main concerns about labor and migration create a program of workshops aimed at the Filipino community, organized for their days off, in a city where finding an accessible place is always a constant challenge.
You’ll find Cheng-Lan Corner on a residential street behind the main road, intersecting with Caine Road—a street that used to be the dividing line between where foreigners and Chinese were allowed to live. “We are very aware of the cultural context we are focusing on,” Yue emphasized, pointing to the mosque up the hill and the Baptist church down the street. The couple was well aware of the cultural setting of this place and chose it deliberately.
Investment and community engagement were central to Bi and Yue’s approach to fundraising and, by extension, to their consideration of the foundation’s role. They are part of a generation that doesn’t want to just have an identity; they want to engage with the culture, get to know the artist, actively follow their path and create a collection that has the potential to have a long-term impact. “We try to think beyond the physical space, and we have realized that the support and placement of platforms is the software of everything,” Bi is shown. Even before finding a physical location, they started a fellowship with Delfina Foundation in London and Para Site in Hong Kong called The Harbor Exchange Fellowship Program.
The idea was straightforward: combining two strong efforts to create something greater than the sum of its parts instead of trying to build from scratch. “Each one has resources, expertise and dedicated teams to do it right,” Bi said of the program, which includes Hong Kong-based art in residency at the Delfina Foundation in London, while UK-based art comes to the Para Site in Hong Kong. “We are very committed to creating these kinds of exchanges, and that is reflected in our broader plans,” added Yue. “We want to promote the local ecosystem and the wider region, but also have an exchange with international artists.”
The response since the launch has been overwhelmingly positive. Hong Kong’s art scene is characterized by a rare sense of togetherness and collaboration compared to the more lively and isolated areas of other major art hubs such as New York and London. Almost every major institution has sent someone to their opening, and that encounter has translated into genuine interest and ongoing relationships. Yue attributes this in part to the scale of the community: smaller than London or New York, it naturally encourages collaboration and personal connection, as people get to know each other in multiple roles at once.
During the installation, a few passers-by stopped to ask what was going on. Then a nearby elementary school kid pulled his mother in and asked, “What is this?” As he was about to leave, Yue ushered them both in. Those moments defined what they wanted Cheng-Lan’s Corner to be: a door that’s always open, a third place in a place that doesn’t have enough and a place that truly belongs to everyone. Bi and Yue spoke of the widespread excitement in Hong Kong, with new initiatives like theirs emerging at the same time and bringing new energy to the city’s growing ecosystem. “The more programs there are, the better the ecosystem. Especially with this generation, people are more willing to build a community and build together.”
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