[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="14282" img_size="full"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]8 – 11 October 2021 | HK Convention & Exhibition Centre[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Chairman and Founder, The Sovereign Group

Howard Bilton is Chairman and founder of The Sovereign Group – one of the world’s largest privately-owned consultancies specialising in the provision of offshore trusts and companies and associated international tax advice.

Howard currently lives and works in Hong Kong.

Howard holds a joint honours degree in classics and law from the University of Keele and is qualified as a Barrister and called to the Bars of England/Wales and Gibraltar. As a visiting non-resident Professor at Texas A and M University, he assists with their LLM and Master’s degrees in International Tax and Offshore Centres. He is a regular contributor of articles to numerous newspapers and technical new wires.

In Hong Kong in 2003, Howard formed The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF), a charitable organisation also registered in Guernsey, Malta, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom. SAF runs a range of art prizes designed to increase the exposure of artists in the region, while raising money to help disadvantaged children. SAF has raised over US$9 million and has helped thousands of disadvantaged children using expressive arts as a means of education and rehabilitation.

Howard is also the Founder and Chairman of Howard’s Folly Wines, Portugal. All wines use art on the labels and often feature work by finalists of The Sovereign Asian Art Prize of the same year. A proportion of the wine operations revenue goes to support SAF.

SovereignGroup.com

SovereignArtFoundation.com

HowardsFollyWine.com

Artist

Peggy Chan Pui Leng holds a BA in Fine Arts from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. Based in Hong Kong’s Cattle Depot Artists’ Village, she works with media that capture time and light, often employing the use of cyanotype - a photographic process dating from the 19th century. Chan uses these processes to create richly layered worlds that evoke elements of daily life – the past, and possibly future.

Chan’s works have been shown throughout Asia, most notably in Hundred Specie, Macao Museum of Arts (2017), Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale, Mokpo, Korea (2018), The 2nd CAFAM Future Exhibition: Observer- Creator, The reality representation of Chinese Young Art, CAFA Art museum, Beijing (2015), Hong Kong Female Artists Exhibition, St. Petersburg State University, Russia (2018) and Sparkle! After One Hundred, Oil Street Art Space, Hong Kong (2015).

She is also a previous finalist of The Sovereign Asian Art Prize.

Founder and CEO, Fine Art Asia

Susanna Lo has over 10 years of experience in organising art events. In 2005, Susanna Lo founded Art & Antique International Fair Ltd. (AAIF) with Andy Hei, a professional antique dealer. AAIF was the pioneer of art fairs in Hong Kong: its inaugural fair “Hong Kong International Asian Antiques and Arts Fair” in 2006, which was renamed “Fine Art Asia” in 2010, was the first international art fair in Hong Kong in more than a decade.

In October 2015, Susanna was appointed one of the twelve founding members of the Hong Kong Antique and Art Galleries Association (HKAAGA). The aim of the association is to maximize the collective expertise of its members to deliver the maximum value to art lovers, and raise Hong Kong’s art market to a higher level of recognition. In December 2015, Susanna and her partner founded another art fair, “Ink Asia”, was the first-ever international art fair specialising in ink art, hosting both local and world-renowned galleries and artists, making a new page for the Hong Kong Art Scene. In 2019 and 2020, Susanna established Art Mentor International Ltd. and Art Mentor Education Foundation Ltd. respectively with the aim of improving students’ English proficiency, communication skill and art appreciation through musical theatre education and the production of original music and stories for brand new musicals in Broadway-style.

Sara Mao is the Director for Christie’s Education in Asia, overseeing the development of programmes across Hong Kong, China, and South East Asia. Sara joined Christie’s in 2008 as a Junior Specialist Trainee, and in 2015, she was appointed Vice President, Specialist Head of Sale for Chinese Modern Paintings, focused on nurturing client relationships and securing consignments in Asia for auction and private sales.

Sara has curated over ten seasons of auctions for some of the most iconic paintings and important collections in the field. She was responsible for spearheading record-breaking sales of Fu Baoshi’s The Song of the Pipa Player for HKD204.8 million, and Zhang Daqian’s Ancient Temples Amidst Clouds for HKD102.4 million, in 2017. Sara is also an auctioneer for Christie’s, and supports numerous charity auctions, including Save the Children, Ronald McDonald House, Make a Wish Foundation, The National Kidney Foundation (SNG), and others.

After receiving her B.A. in Philosophy & English Literature at the University of York (UK), Sara acquired her Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP Law School (UK) and a Master of Letters in History of Art and Connoisseurship, with a concentration in Chinese art, from Christie’s Education and the University of Glasgow.

HKSEA Vice President

Kevin Leung is a veteran arts educator, council member of gifted education group in Curriculum Development Council Committee Education Bureau, mentor of “Enlightening Professionals-Mentorship Scheme” Education University of Hong Kong, as well as a convenor and member of the Visual Arts Education Focus Concern Core Group. Mr. Leung received the Chief Executive’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Arts Education Key Learning Area, Master of Education with Academic Excellence from Education University of Hong Kong, and The Outstanding Arts Teacher Award received from Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

He was previously member of Education Commission in the Arts Education Key Learning Area under the Education Bureau, teaching consultant and external member of the Culture & Creative Arts Department Education University of Hong Kong. He was also a member of HKCEE & HKALE Arts Subject Committee under the Hong Kong Examination & Assessment Authority.