Pacita Abad at Art Basel Hong Kong Encounters Sector: Curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor and Pio Abad, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre

The first work visitors will see within ‘As The World Turns’, this year’s edition of Encounters at Art Basel Hong Kong, will be impossible to miss. Set against a theatrical backdrop of shocking pink and yellow fabric, with a purple vinyl floor, the late Pacita Abad's three abstract ‘trapunto’ works – enormous painted, quilted, and embroidered textiles – are over five-meters tall.

The Encounters in Hong Kong is dedicated to monumental artworks and known both for its physical and conceptual ambitions. It’s ‘a benchmark for excellence and experimentation’ says its curator Alexie Glass-Kantor. For the past 11 years, she’s helped artists develop works up to 10-meters tall, which despite not being in dedicated rooms, manage to distinguish themselves from the bustle of the show floor. As such, the sector is a conduit for some major artworld currents. ‘There’s a huge move to material practice,’ she says. ‘In the past decade, there’s also been a real shift to recognizing Indigenous sovereignty. Artists are working in transhistorical modes of production, and looking to intergenerational forms that pass on inherited knowledge.’ (By Skye Sherwin)