The Hong Kong International Art Fair (ART HK) 2010 opened here Thursday, where the organizer and exhibitors were hoping that the event could help expand the Asian market as the interests of collectors grow broader.

The four-day art fair being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center has attracted a total of 155 top level galleries from 29 countries and regions, featuring art works selling from 1,000 U.S. dollars to about 10 million U.S. dollars.

Sperone Westwater, a gallery based in New York, U.S. participating the fair for the first time, showcased a total of 13 paintings drawn by Chinese contemporary artist Liu Ye and has got almost half of the works sold before the fair was officially launched.

"We've got buyers from the U.S., Singapore...all over the world, " Cailin Broere, representative of the gallery, said that a painting portraying a late Chinese pop-singer was sold at a price over 120,000 U.S. dollars.

Broere told Xinhua at the ongoing art show that the main reason of choosing the works of the Chinese artists because they are well-known in Asia. She admitted one may find it hard to gain resonance when appreciating a piece of work produced by an artist from a different culture.

Richard Chang, Advisory Board Member of the fair, said the there was a gap between east and west art works but "what ART HK doing is to build a bridge." He said, "it gives collectors a chance to expose to international art works, while local galleries can show their local colors."

Despite the differences between eastern and western art, the fair director Magnus Renfrew said a diversity of tastes has been developed in recent years as more collectors from the west are showing interest in Asian contemporary art works, which will do good to the expansion of the Asian market.

Hong Kong, a place of diverse culture, where sales tax were not applied to imported art works, serves as an important hub for art trade and cultural exchange, said the fair director.

Other than providing a platform for buying and selling, Renfrew said ART HK is bringing contemporary art closer to the public which is one of the core value of the fair.

"The fair is offering free docent service in different languages including English and Cantonese," he said, adding that there would be a series of artist stand talks carried out in front of their own booths.

Adding a new dimension will be more than ten solo exhibitions by an eclectic election of international artists, which include artists from Japan, Israel, Australia, the UK and some other regions.

The fair was first held in 2008. Last year, a total of 27,856 visitors were drawn to the event.

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