3 takeaways from Hong Kong City Meet Up – editor’s letter

Have you been to one of our City Meetups yet? Perhaps you have not even heard of them?

Art Radar’s City Meet Ups are a great way to take the publication from virtual to personal, enabling our readers to connect. You can learn about an exhibition, art movement or artist, chat with fellow contemporary art enthusiasts and make potentially fruitful art world connections. Editor Cassandra Naji explains what she learned at the most recent Meet Up in Hong Kong.

Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, 'The Treachery of the Moon', 2012, color video, with sound, 12 min., 37 sec., edition 1/7. Image courtesy Tyler Rollins Fine Art.

Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, ‘The Treachery of the Moon’, 2012, colour video, with sound, 12 min., 37 sec., edition 1/7. Image courtesy Tyler Rollins Fine Art.

Art Radar’s City Meet Ups are a fantastic opportunity for me as an editor to learn about our readers and understand their needs. Getting closer to readers is always beneficial for anyone who writes or edits a publication

Click here to sign up for information about forthcoming City Meet Ups where you are

At our recent Hong Kong event Art Radar offered readers a curator-led private tour of the Guggenheim exhibition called “No Country”, which shows Asian and Southeast Asian art. As usual there was an opportunity to meet and chat informally over a drink afterwards

Dominique Chan, co-curator of "No Country", discusses a work during Art Radar's guided tour in Hong Kong. Image by Art Radar.

Dominique Chan, co-curator of “No Country”, discusses a work during Art Radar’s guided tour in Hong Kong. Image by Art Radar.

This was my first Meet Up and I was excited. Finally I had the chance to meet readers face to face and to find out not only who reads Art Radar, but why they read it and what they want from us now and in the future. Some of what I learned was surprising!

Here are my three takeaways from the Hong Kong City Meet Up.

Our readership is diverse: Sitting behind my laptop all day, I tend to assume that Art Radar readers are, well, just like me: thirty somethings, expats and media/culture professionals. I was happy to be proved wrong at the Meet Up. There’s no age limit on our readers and they come from any and every walk of life and background. Artists and advisors, dealers and academics yes, but also financiers, students and retirees. What was clear is that our readers are serious art enthusiasts not just window shoppers; all are or aspire to be involved in art in a deeper, more meaningful way than the average gallery goer

We’re a trusted and valued resource: It was wonderful to discover that all the hard work we put into maintaining editorial integrity and accuracy pays dividends. To meet lecturers and art experts who value our content was gratifying, and also inspired me to focus on producing work of even higher standards.

People are passionate about us! The readers at the Meet Up relished the chance to be involved with Art Radar and to spend time with us. Volunteering time and writing skills, attending exhibitions and art events, sitting down for a coffee and a conversation- all these things show that our readers have dedication and, yes, passion for contemporary art, writing and Art Radar itself.

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