Art Basel

I am still catching up on posts here - desperately behind on the entire month of April, unfortunately, sigh. 

So Art Basel was the last weekend of March, and one of my friends managed to score VIP tickets at the last minute, so we decided to go.  She brought her 3 year old toddler and I brought Lola.  In retrospect, we were very brave...


The art festival was held in the Wan Chai Convention Center, which was packed. 

We went on a Saturday afternoon.  Lola generally dislikes her stroller and getting around Hong Kong is really tough on wheels (narrow sidewalks, nonexistent sidewalks, no space, taxis) and I decided to carry her.  This is usually okay because we have a great carrier, but carrying Lola for over 3 hours along with a diaper bag was a lot. 

Here we are - in our artsy and bright dresses!

 

 

I liked the 3D effect of this one.  And the colors. 

I really liked this gallery, Chambers Fine Art, and thought they represented some really nice artists from China, both old and new.

 






















My friend left about half an hour after we got there because her kid was bored and wanted to leave.  Lola is very good in new places because no matter the subject she finds stuff to keep herself entertained.  I am sure this will change as she gets older but for now she is still relatively portable.

I say relatively because the art was weird/funky/cool/pretty awesome, and I even found an artist that I really like, but I was felled by the diaper bag and a very tired Lola and the complete and utter lack of changing tables in the entire convention center.  Seriously.  Lola didn't want to leave; I could have gone through a few more exhibits; but we ultimately went home because there was no changing table or private area anywhere in sight.  Not great, and frankly kind of surprising given Hong Kong is usually pretty baby friendly.

  There were some interactive galleries as well as well as some cheeky mesaging. 

 

The place was really packed.

 

We probably had the most fun at the Calder exhibit which had an interactive photo booth.  All I wanted was to get a cute picture with Lola that wasn't a selfie, but unfortunately Lola refused to cooperate.  But she is so cute I forgive her.