Alisan Atelier Aberdeen: Inside Hong Kong's Alisan Fine Arts Gallery Space

Located in Aberdeen's Tin Wan, overlooking the harbour and fishing boats, Alisan Atelier sits peacefully. Find the 19th floor of Hing Wai Centre, and the space unfolds before your eyes... over 10,000 square feet of gallery, library, office, and the most beautiful views from almost every angle.

Alisan Fine Arts has been running since the 1980s, when Alice King founded what is now considered Hong Kong's longest-running contemporary gallery, and predominantly built its name on Chinese contemporary art and New Ink. Daphne King Yao took over as director in 2011 and kept the expansion going in Central, Aberdeen, and then New York. Alisan Atelier opened in August 2024, as a freer version of a gallery, serving as a space that combines an exhibition area, an entertainment hub, and a spot to sit down to have a discussion.

Alisan Atelier recently hosted a movie screening event to introduce themselves and what they've got going on for the French May Arts Festival. When walking into the main hall, the first thing we noticed is the light. Large windows that allow the perfect amount of natural light in, and a large and open space with perfectly placed pieces that allow them to be the sole focus. To the right is an office space that looks more like a design studio than an admin space, and admittedly is probably the perfect place to work! Sales and Marketing Associate, Joanne Tsang, who also manages the atelier, gave us the full tour, revealing a full bar, a kitchen, and spaces that you can book out for private dinners.

Images courtesy of Alisan Atelier

The afternoon paired a screening of Léos Carax's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf with a wine tasting from Purple Rain, timed to the current main exhibition. The 1991 French film follows two drifters living on a closed-off, under-construction Pont Neuf bridge in Paris. Watching it in a gallery rather than a cinema allowed room for whispering commentary and catching stranger's eye during the more chaotic scenes! Purple Rain was in charge of the wine for the afternoon. The company, founded by Anson Sik and Edson Bichon, deals in small-production, low-intervention wines from a new wave of Chinese winemakers. We tried two bottles of their wines: the Honey Pot, which was dangerously easy to drink, with just the perfect amount of honey flavour, and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Shofang, a coastal winery whose seaside location gives its wines a gentle style. This is a wine you'd order without a second thought.

Images courtesy of Alisan Atelier

The screening was in theme with the atelier's main exhibition, New Voices in Paris Now: Between Memory and Matter, which is on view through 29 August. It's the contemporary half of the gallery's 45th anniversary programme, showcasing four Chinese artists, Li Donglu, Qi Zhuo, Shi Qi, and Yao Qingmei, all currently living and working in Paris. Its companion show, The Chinese Avant-Garde in Paris, ran at the Central gallery and covered the postwar generation. Both are part of this year's French May Arts Festival.

If Central and TST are usually the extent of your art gallery hopping, or if you're new to the art scene, this is your nudge to go. Alisan Atelier is worth the visit to Aberdeen on its own merits, for the art and for the space itself. With such wonderful staff and a comfortable environment, we highly recommend checking them out. Entry is free of charge, all you have to do is book an appointment/viewing.

Alisan Atelier, Wednesday to Saturday; 10am - 6pm

📍 1904 Hing Wai Centre, 7 Tin Wan Praya Road, Aberdeen

+852 2526 1099 info@alisan.com.hk