In celebration of its 35th anniversary, the gallery is thrilled to announce the opening a brand new space, Rossi & Rossi Hollywood Road, on 12March. Located on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong’s historic centre of art and antiques, it will focus on showcasing an exciting array of objects from the Himalayas. The space will also feature a library where visitors can draw from the gallery’s scholarly publications and resources. This is Rossi & Rossi’s third location, alongside its initial space in London and another in Hong Kong’s Southern District.

The focus of the new space as well as its location hold special significance for both Anna Maria Rossi, who founded the gallery in1985, and her son, Fabio, who later joined her as co-owner and principal. The two travelled extensively for decades, an undertaking that eventually inspired them to cultivate unique expertise in the field of Himalayan art.

In 1971, Anna Maria embarked on the first of many road trips to the Middle East, driving through Greece to Turkey, Syria, Iraq and, ultimately, India. Within a few years, Fabio began to travel with her in journeys that spanned Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Tibet. In 1975, they arrived for the first time in Hong Kong, where they were struck by the famed Hollywood Road. They quickly made the port city a regular stop on their way to Tibet.

Rossi & Rossi has remained committed to developing a robust programme in classical Himalayan art since its founding. Over the years, the gallery has organised thematically curated and often ground-breaking exhibitions. The accompanying publications have been penned by leading scholars in the field. Early Tibetan Manuscript Covers: 12th to 15th century (1996), for instance, presented the supreme skill and artistic expression that existed within the genre of Tibetan book covers. The seminal exhibition Treasures from Mongolia: Buddhist Sculpture from the School of Zanabazar (2004) marked the first time that Mongolian sculptures of various Buddhist subjects were showcased in a commercial space.

The gallery’s programme has evolved to include contemporary art from Tibet and the Tibetan diaspora. In November 2005, Rossi & Rossi unveiled From Classic to Contemporary: Visions from Tibet, which featured the works of contemporary Tibetan artists alongside classical Tibetan paintings. It was amongst the first introductions of contemporary Tibetan art to a Western audience, bringing to the fore the vibrant Tibetan art scene.

Rossi & Rossi Hollywood Road will host a series of exhibitions designed to revisit the gallery’s history, recounting stories from Anna Maria and Fabio’s early travels. The information they gleaned from these incredible journeys enhances our greater understanding of the region’s curious historical artefacts as well as its contemporary artistic expressions.

History has shown that the creative ingenuity of one place and culture often finds resonance in another. As such, with Himalayan art as the foundation of the Rossi & Rossi programme, the gallery hopes to foster a dialogue between art and artists from wide-ranging backgrounds, untethered to any particular geographical confine. Although the field has often been perceived as somewhat esoteric, Rossi & Rossi strives to make it approachable to diverse audiences, accessible to scholars and relevant to the times in which we live. The opening of the new space punctuates the gallery’s commitment to presenting inspiring exhibitions that illuminate Himalayan art and instilling academic rigour to the field.