With Covid travel restrictions finally over, 2024 is a big year for Art Basel Hong Kong as the fair has now returned to its pre-pandemic peak of 242 exhibiting galleries. That figure, according to director Angelle Siyang-Le, puts the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the fair opens Tuesday, at full capacity. There’s no getting bigger from here.

And yet, the fair keeps finding way to expand, with a series of public programs that extend it far into the city. There’s a program of film screenings, roundtable conversations, an off-site installation, a sector of the exhibition that is free