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Moments in Time – Available for Immediate Purchase, exhibition and text at opening reception of watches and other items for sale, Sotheby’s Maison, Central, Hong Kong, 21 August 2025.

Published by John Batten

A few months ago, contributor Sam Knight’s article How a Billionaire Owner Brought Turmoil and Trouble to Sotheby’s was published in The New Yorker, following similar reports in art publications. Each discussed French-Israeli telecommunications billionaire Patrick Drahi’s ownership of auction house Sotheby’s, which he purchased in 2019. The article outlines Drahi’s propensity for cost-cutting, staff downsizing and extracting capital from the businesses he operates. Since his purchase, Sotheby’s debt has risen, nearly a quarter of its staff have left and US$1 billion of dividends have been paid to its holding company. Also, a disastrous recent attempt to introduce a new fixed set of fees for buyers and sellers at its auctions backfired. The fixed fees did not allow Sotheby’s art specialists any leeway to negotiate fees with potential consignors. Christie’s duly undercut its rival. Sotheby’s specialists consequently struggled to find stock for their auctions. Just seven months later, amid falling business, Sotheby’s reverted to its old fee structure. The above photograph could be illustrative of Sotheby’s recent approach to business. It also reflects the transactional …

Bridesmaids and photographers photographing a bridal couple on Isamu Noguchi’s ‘Playscape’ sculpture, M+ Rooftop Garden, West Kowloon, Hong Kong, 12 February 2023.

Published by Artomity Magazine

Playscape is one of many sculptures for playgrounds that American-Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) intentionally designed (but rarely realised) for children to climb on and play around. A selection of these sculptures are displayed on the M+ museum’s rooftop. The stepped concrete form of Playscape, looking more pyramid than rectangle, comprises blocks and in-between voids. There is an element of risk if jumping across one block to another; the gap is slightly more hazardous than safe, and a missed jump could result in a six-metre fall to ground. But, no-one falls. The M+ rooftop, lobby, Mediatheque of videos to watch, and the basement Found Space are all free entry within the non-payment areas of the museum. Consequently, the rooftop has become a favoured spot for wedding photography, including for couples travelling from the mainland. The rooftop offers contrasting scenes. Bisected into two halves by the tall inverted ‘T’ of the building’s large LED screen, the ‘front’ – the Victoria Harbour side – of the rooftop has magnificent waterfront views looking towards Hong Kong island and …

GOING, with aeroplane in distance, at end of day, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 19 July 2024.

Published by John Batten

“Final bids” on an auction item are called and then, with hammer raised and nothing more from bidders, the auctioneer’s “Going, going” brings it to an end: “Sold!”  This photograph hasn’t much to do with auctions, but it was taken as Sotheby’s and Christie’s were both preparing a radical reorientation of their businesses in Hong Kong. Taking over a space previously occupied by fashion house Armani, Sotheby’s new first-floor retail outlet in Central’s Chater House will sell a range of artwork, including designer furniture and antiquities, on consignment – and, no doubt, dabble in art’s primary market, artwork directly from an artist: always a point of chagrin for galleries, who believe auction houses should deal only in the secondary market. At ground level is another large viewing space that will host the auction floor. Meanwhile, Christie’s has taken space at The Henderson, Zaha Hadid Architects’ newly completed building in front of the Bank of China Tower and overlooking Chater Garden. The smart interior design, with movable panels and private client areas, is by Hong Kong-founded …

A reminder of I.M. Pei’s Bank of China Tower, …

Published by John Batten

… steel scaffolding and tape, on the street, Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong, 27 May 2024 / The large retrospective exhibition devoted to the Chinese-American architect IM Pei (1917-2019) organised by Hong Kong’s M+ museum motivated me to look again at his Bank of China Tower in Central. Built on the site of Murray House, the former officers’ quarters of the British Army at Murray Barracks, its location, surrounded by major roads and on a sloping site, was described at the time of construction as “difficult”. If there were initial spatial restrictions, these are not obvious now. The tower has good ground-level pedestrian access and an imposing presence, with an architectural height of 315 metres; together with its two distinctive antenna masts, the building’s total height is 367 metres. The tower’s height impressively overwhelms the tight site and reaches upwards to overshadow lower adjacent buildings. Working with long-time structural engineering collaborator Leslie E Robertson (1928-2021), IM Pei developed the building’s form from four steel corner columns, onto which its weight transfers from its distinctive triangular/diamond framework. …

Preparing to pour concrete, Central waterfront reclamation, Central, Hong Kong, 7 February 2024

Published by John Batten

A pile foundation is given its final preparation while a group of construction workers on the ground wait for the all-clear to lift a large concrete pourer (on the ground, middle of photograph), to begin the pour. The anticipation of the moment is captured, to be repeated again-and-again as a waiting line of concrete-mixers deliver more concrete. This is the site of the ‘Central Reclamation Phase III’, which officially began in 2003 and became controversial when the old ‘Star’ Ferry building in 2006, and a little later, amidst public protests, the former Queen’s Pier were both demolished. Twenty years later, after the completion of the Central to Wan Chai underground by-pass road as ‘necessary’ infrastructure to justify this reclamation, ground-level construction is only now beginning.  The entire Central waterfront will be altered from its late-1950s holistically planned historic City Hall precinct to provide a linked harbourfront pedestrian walkway from Kennedy Town to Causeway Bay and a large area on which commercial and retail buildings will be constructed. However, the final design of the Central reclamation …

Family having cake and coffee, overlooking a misty Victoria Harbour, from Rooftop Garden, M+, West Kowloon, Hong Kong, 12 February 2023.

Published by John Batten

After allowing free entry for the first year of its operation, M+ – Hong Kong’s new international museum – recently introduced admission charges. The museum has however maintained free access to the cinema and its outdoor areas, including the third floor rooftop garden. Positioned alongside the city’s West Kowloon harbourfront where this photograph was taken, the museum’s south elevation has uninterrupted views towards Hong Kong island and Lantau island. Recently installed moveable seating now allows visitors to flexibly find the best view and follow the sun in winter and shade in summer. The north section of the rooftop garden with views over the adjacent Palace Museum, the West Kowloon ship mooring area, Stonecutters Island and the Kowloon hills, has a wonderfully interactive installation of ‘Playscape’ sculpture by the American-Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi. Particularly loved by children and as a location for wedding photos, the sculpture can be touched and climbed on. This fundamental change in entry policy has never been openly debated. During its first year of free entry, the museum saw record numbers of visitors. Charging admission will undoubtedly impact visits made by …

Entrance lobby of Tang King Po School, Ma Tau Wei, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 29 December 2021.

Published by John Batten

A few days after hearing of the closure of another of Hong Kong’s remaining pro-democracy news outlets, Stand News, and its web archive, I decided I needed a good walk to shake off the gloom. Before meeting Michele Chu, an artist friend exhibiting at 1a space in Tai Kok Tsui, I wandered around nearby Ma Tau Wai. I entered the beautiful 1950s modernist campus of Tang King Po School, which has an open chapel for worshippers. I admired the inner cloistered courtyards, visited the chapel and chatted to the friendly caretaker. The ambience was utterly solid, stable – otherworldly, almost. It was a perfect retreat for an hour – and a reminder to just get on with it. Later, I mentioned to Michele that I had visited the school and she recalled that when she learnt to drive a car, the instructor told her to remember “Tang King Po” School as she was preparing to drive, a homonym in Cantonese for “seat, mirrors, gears” – a simple reminder to adjust all three before driving. A moral there: …

Unloading a container of fruit near the wholesale fruit market, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 26 September 2021.

Published by John Batten

Daily, from the late afternoon until the early hours of the following morning, the streets surrounding the wholesale fruit market in the old district of Yau Ma Tei are transformed. Large containers arrive from just-unloaded ships or across the mainland border. Teams of workmen quickly unload the contents onto pallets that are trundled on trolleys through the streets, with cars and minibuses weaving in between. The newly arrived fruit is temporarily held in the market’s warehouses or on roadsides before being distributed throughout Hong Kong to independent fruit vendors, restaurants, suppliers and other outlets. The historic market is a labyrinth of alleys linking small wholesale businesses, including a row of 1930s shophouses converted into a warehouse. The site’s heritage extends onto the streets, as the physicality of loading and unloading under darkness amid moving, torch-like car headlights has a timeless, gothic ambience.  However, all this could go; the Hong Kong government has just announced the future removal of the market and its conversion into a place “for tourists” – no doubt, the business plan will involve high-price and/or tacky restaurants, bars and shops. …

Statue of Sun Yat-sen on National Day, Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong, 1 October 2018

Published by John Batten

Seemingly facing the flags of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the statue of nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen is itself overlooked by the hovering presence of the nearby mainland Liaison Office’s distinctive sphere-topped office building. Photographed six months before government-proposed extradition legislation that triggered mass demonstrations, the statue itself was later graffitied amid widespread anti-government street protests. This formal scene does not anticipate the outbreak of Covid-19 and the momentous introduction of the mainland-imposed national security legislation to ensure that in the future only “patriots will run Hong Kong”. 民族領袖孫中山的塑像看似面向中國國旗和香港特別行政區區旗，倒被附近座落中聯辦獨特的圓頂辦公樓俯瞰。攝於政府送中條例風波引發大規模示威之前六個月，照片中雕塑完好無損，但在大型的反政府街頭抗議中被塗鴉。從這個景象裡，未能預計疫情的爆發，以及由中國大陸推行的國安法的重大實施，去確保將來只有「愛國者治港」。 Photo: John Batten

Seafront assemblage, Peng Chau island, Hong Kong, 9 December 2020.

Published by John Batten

On the small, carless island of Peng Chau (pop: 6,487), this is a typical scene: the contents of a ground floor apartment spilling onto adjacent public space, absorbing it as its own. Seen in the distance is Hong Kong’s largest island, Lantau; and, with a lovely seafront position the affects of offshore winds can give ‘dynamic movement’ to a photograph, but has battered the blue-striped multi-use tarpaulin, whose shards now roughly cover surplus hardware, furniture, and appliances, but miss a set of ‘musical’ chairs, and a washing-machine mouthing “Oh!”  在無憂無慮的小島坪洲（人口：6487）上，有這麼一幕典型場景：底層單位的傢俬散佈至畔鄰的公園區域，將其納為己用。身在此處，能眺望到香港最大的島嶼，大嶼山。於此絕佳位置，照片看起來有一層離岸海風吹拂的動感效果，但同時也令藍條紋的多用途防水布變得破舊不堪。這塊布如今草草的遮蓋在多餘的五金用品、傢俱和電器上，卻忽略予一對「音樂」椅子和一架「O咀」的洗衣機。 Photo: John Batten