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Many international festivals have been seeing a slow return to their former glory this past year after reduced operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic—although there are still reports of new surges—and this was evident at Art Basel Hong Kong 2024. After multiple years of a pared-down version of the event, it was back in full force this past week to showcase Pacific Asian artists and the global art community.

Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 hosted two hundred and forty-two exhibitors, compared to the one hundred and seventy-seven from last year—although they reported being down over 10,000 visitors from last year’s total of 86,000. Still, the festival made a strong showing of talent from across the Pacific Asian region and its diaspora, from curated works of the early 20th century and beyond to galleries for established and emerging artists to immersive installations.

Some of the works in the central spotlight of this year’s exhibition included: Atsushi Kaga’s Ukiyo-e  (2022-23), an installation evoking a traditional Kabuki-style theatre of the Edo period with a panel painting of the artist’s bunny alter ego sat amidst homages to his late mother; El Anatsui’s A Desire To Get Away (2024), a massive tapestry of bottle caps and metal wire, resembling a fish’s scaly skin from repurposed waste; and the wealth of film works curated by Li Zhenhua.

While Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 may have seen a dip in numbers from the prior year, it is certainly no reflection on the art on offer. An all-encompassing presentation of the modern-historic and current works within its borders and beyond, it is positive to see growth in presentation in the wake of the recent artistic climate. Fingers crossed for an even stronger turn out in the years to come.

In the modern art paradigm, consent and plagiarism are more hotly debated topics than ever. From the purposefully slippery cesspool that is AI art generation to reopened debates on the likes of Warhol, we are seeing the topic batted around more each passing year. But maybe the most unexpected addition to the debate comes from a grade school teacher in Quebec, thanks to their side hustle of Creepy Portraits.

A $1.5 million lawsuit is being levelled at Mario Perron and the Lester B. Pearson School Board following the reveal that Perron had been repurposing his students’ work to sell as merchandise on his website. After assigning his students the task of creating portraits inspired by the signature style of Basquiat—an assignment he perhaps insensitively called “Creepy Portrait”—Perron took their portraits and began printing them to order various merchandise that was selling for up to nearly $40 a pop.

Parents were living when they found out about the matter, and students also seemingly felt despondent about having their works being used without permission, especially with their first names attached. They filed their lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court, and it calls for not only the monetary damages but also an apology from Perron and a report of Creepy Portraits’ sales.

There is a good chance the lawsuit has strong footing, especially given Perron having actively sold the works of the students for Creepy Portraits. This coupled with the contemporary examples being set regarding similar cases of artist plagiarism may put the school and Perron in hot water. But kudos to each student for making some truly haunting portrait work.

When most people think of theatre productions with legendary longevity, their mind goes to Broadway. After all, the North American mecca of musicals and beyond has been home to the likes of Wicked, The Lion King, and The Phantom of the Opera, each holding decades under their belts. But even these feats pale in comparison to the well-lived and loved gem of London’s West End, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.

The Mousetrap has just recently celebrated its fiftieth year at its home in St Martin’s Theatre. This alone is a grand achievement, but truly, the show has been running in the West End for seventy years, having switched over from its original home of Ambassadors Theatre after running there from 1952 to 1974. The only interruptions in its run have been two days while it moved theatres and a year and two months during the pandemic. St Martin’s is denoted by its proud neon sign for The Mousetrap and has a wooden sign within clocking how many performances have shown—now upwards of 29,500.

Agatha Christie’s piece started out as a radio play entitled Three Blind Mice, before spinning into a short story—one that Christie demanded not be published in the UK so long as the show ran—and was inspired by the real-life death of a young boy in foster care. The Mousetrap is a whodunit murder mystery of several guests snowed in at a lodge as a woman’s murder is investigated. A standard piece of mystery work with a requisite twist ending, the sheer continuity of the show has become the true reason tourists flock to it.

While there is often dismay as to the future of theatre at large, and while there are certainly many theatrical artifacts that could do with supplanting to breathe new life into the medium, The Mousetrap is a pleasant and present reminder of an era gone by. There is little to wish it except another fifty years at home in the West End.

We go to galleries to surround ourselves with the delights of the exhibited artists, meandering through peaceful halls to engage in quiet contemplation of works past and present. But it’s easy to forget that there is a bustling team making it such that these serene and beautiful moments can happen. And just like every other workforce, they are feeling the squeeze of unfair wages—and it’s because of this that the Art Gallery of Ontario’s workers have gone on strike.

As of March 26th, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s workers, Local 535 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, has voted to strike after ten months of negotiations with the AGO. The latest offer was not representative of necessary living wages in the rapidly worsening housing crisis of Toronto, an issue keenly felt coast to coast. After three years of wage freezes and the tumultuous issues in the sector stemming from the pandemic, the union has finally decided enough is enough.

As one of the largest museums in North America, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s workers fairly point out the AGO’s ability to throw money around. From 2020 to 2021 their CEO Stephan Jost took home almost $800 thousand. Recently the gallery has announced plans for a $100 million expansion for modern and contemporary art. While it may have stated a deficit in its last year, the gallery certainly isn’t hurting for money—but the union members certainly are.

Whether the Art Gallery of Ontario’s workers will get to the agreement they desire is to be determined in the face of such a titanic target for bargaining. Hopefully, the AGO will take stock beyond its own growth and do right by those who keep the ship running.