Travel For Art

From Basel to Hong Kong to Kochi, SHALINI PASSI travels around the world for art. The artist and collector tells us how she discovers destinations through the lens of exhibitions.

- Shalini Passi

FOR ME, TRAVEL IS about more than just relaxation. It’s about discovery, inspiration, and conception of ideas. Hence, I often choose my destinations based on places that have a dynamic arts scene and an established cultural history. I go to these places not only because I know there is a certain period or style of art that I am interested in, but also because I believe that they make the most interesting destinations—full of expression and life.

Art is a unique way to experience a place, its culture, and its people. I mostly target major international art events like fairs, biennales, and exhibition openings.

This means that in winter, I’m mostly in India for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (kochimuzirisbiennale.org) and India Art Fair (indiaartfair.in)—both of which I am involved in. But immediately after these events conclude, it feels like the rest of the art world is just getting started.

Hong Kong is the ideal place for March. With Art Basel Hong Kong (March 19–21, 2020; artbasel.com/hong-kong) and Art Central Hong Kong (March 17–22; artcentralhongkong.com) taking place in the same week, there is plenty of art from all over the Asia-Pacific region on display. This year had a lot of Southeast Asian galleries and artists, which is an area I’m keen to know more about. I would recommend a stay at the newly opened Rosewood Hong Kong (rosewoodhotels.com), which is situated in the heart of the Victoria Dockside art and design district and filled with art by a wide range of globally renowned artists—from Henry Moore to Damien Hirst to Bharti Kher. The city has a lot of character, too; the modern quarters exemplify cutting-edge design, particularly Zaha Hadid’s Jockey Club Innovation Tower and Frank Gehry’s OPUS, but I find the traditional districts have a special charm that reminds me of Mumbai.