The further I get from my youth and the compulsory art classes it afforded, the further I find myself falling from the art world.

“The Art World” – What a statement that is. I watch a tremendous amount of films, play a deeply depressing amount of videogames and, throughout my working week, pay regular visits to the gym, yet I never find myself speaking or writing about the film/game/fitness world. That’s not to suggest they don’t exist in the same context as The Art World, but they certainly can’t boast the same cocksure swagger that ‘The Art World’ can have about its place in our social consciousness and vocabulary.

What perhaps sets The Art World apart is an air of exclusivity surrounding it. Art, subjective as it is, can fall victim to the insecurities of its onlookers if by its very nature it inadvertently confuses or confounds them. Often I find myself turning my nose up at art that I don’t understand because its easier to do that than it is to ask, learn and begin to appreciate something new. It’s not at all that most people can’t appreciate art, moreover that we struggle to communicate with those willing to enlighten. Be that because of the exclusivity or not, this air of exclusivity is, in SoHo at least, becoming more and more commonplace. As Paul Yip, Manager at the CAIS Gallery explained, “We moved to SoHo from Admiralty a few months ago because there is such a strong art community here. People in Hong Kong know that SoHo is a place for art and we wanted to be a part of that.”

As galleries open around every corner of our eclectic little borough, excuses for ignoring the plentiful opportunities to have a little art mooch are becoming less and less tolerable. What’s more, the curators and ‘gallerists’ relocating to SoHo are a particularly friendly bunch. Eloquent and tremendously personable, they’re more than happy to educate lesser art followers without a whiff of patronisation or disdain. A cut above the standard gallery owner, or one who simply buys and sells artwork, the Gallerist is a shepherd to his artistic flock – part owner, part director, part parent. Indeed, Connoisseur Art Gallery Director, Sappho Ma believes that rather than intimidate, a good gallery owner should embrace everyone’s reaction to his or her collections. “The friendly art community in this area seems to attract a diverse crowd” she explains. “We are always welcoming and informative with visitors, it's nice to engage with them whether they’re established collectors, first-time visitors, students or artists”.

With so much to learn, so many to learn from and a community of SoHo artists that’s positively booming, we’re setting out to expose the creative underbelly that lies beneath the bars, restaurants and boutiques of SoHo. Journeying to a handful of SoHo’s galleries we’ll discover what drives their owners, what inspires their artists and more importantly we’ll find out what’s going on, when and how to get involved!