In conversation with Enoch Cheng

Enoch is a local curator who is also an artist, who joined Art Central three years ago, right as the city reopened. When we met, he was in a very colourful suit, and his tie matched my top: golden yellow. We hadn't even said hello yet, and already we clicked on colour. He radiated this fresh energy that felt almost illegal for the hectic art week, as most people were surviving on espresso and few hours of sleeps.

I asked him about the curatorial thinking behind Central Stage, the platform he helped build to spotlight artists who are already showing in major museums and biennials internationally, but remain largely unseen in Hong Kong.

He didn't talk about themes or trends. He talked about ecology. "We always talk about supporting small to mid-size galleries, cutting-edge artists, up-and-coming artists, or more senior artists who might not be known in this context." he said.

"We want to curate and work on this ecology."

Enoch Cheng, Curator of Art Central 2026. Image courtesy of Art Central

I liked that word: Ecology. It suggests something alive. It made me think about how easy it is, in my own advisory work, to focus on the individual artist or a single collection, rather than the whole ecosystem.

He pointed to examples: a Japanese collective who turn construction-site road signs into installations. A Hong Kong artist living with bipolar disorder who transforms her own heartbeat into digital animations. And a few more artists from all over - South Africa, Finland, Lithuania.

"Just to give platforms, to shine lights on areas. You help them get more exposure. An opportunity." he said.

Then he gave me his way to walk through the fair: Look for strangeness. "Find something stranger than you might like. That's what makes life more exciting." It's true, life is boring if everything is so normal right?

Art Central 2026. Image courtesy of Art Central

In my role in the art world, I discover artists and connect them with collectors, galleries and institutions, helping with acquisitions and building art collections. I like to describe it as helping people adopt puppies. I find home for the puppies with people that truly love and care for it. After you get the puppy, you don't just walk away. You treasure it, you always check in. There's love and relationship in that journey.

So when Enoch described collecting, I adored it.

"Collecting art is like you have a friend, you take care of your friend, allow them to take care of you too.”

Not a transaction. A friendship: a two-way thing. You care for the work and the work cares for you back.

I have spent years helping collectors find the right pieces, connecting artists with the best galleries, and placing artworks in the perfect home. Yet sometimes in the rush of it all, it is easy to forget why we do any of this, and Enoch's words brought me back.

The reminder for all of us in the art world to keep this ecology alive and thriving, is the relationships, the love, and the respect among us all.

There was another conversation with an artist from Art Central named Orange Terry, that I have not stopped thinking about .He told me about a Japanese man, a cross factory in a country I had never heard of, and a connection that was completely unexpected.

Continue reading:

→ In conversation with Orange Terry

→ Hong Kong Art Week 2026: how to see an art fair

Words by Rainbow Kwok