Para Site and Asia Art Archive (AAA), two long-standing independent cultural institutions in Hong Kong, are simultaneously seeking new executive directors at a pivotal moment for the city’s cultural scene.

On June 2, Para Site in Quarry Bay announced that Billy Tang had stepped down as executive director and curator after concluding his three-year contract.

The British-born former senior curator of Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum took over from Cosmin Costinas – who had run Para Site for 11 years – in May 2022, just as Hong Kong lifted its Covid-19 pandemic ban on non-residents entering the city.

Since then, the non-profit art space founded in 1996 has undergone major changes, such as embracing more environmentally friendly and longer-running exhibitions, and opening an additional exhibition space on the 10th floor of the building where it is based which has given emerging artists the chance to undertake more site-specific and interactive projects.

Meanwhile, AAA in Sheung Wan, which maintains an extensive art archive and runs regular public programmes and a well-used library, put up a job posting for a successor to Christopher K. Ho, who joined AAA as executive director in 2021.