From Sir Antony Gormley to Mr Ai Weiwei: the blockbuster exhibitions and artists to catch at this year’s art fair.

Hong Kong goes into full throttle at the end of March with the arrival of two blockbuster art fairs. The first, Art Central (March 27-April 1), now in its fourth year, will feature more than 100 leading international galleries. But it is Art Basel (29-31 March) that always brings the most excitement to the city. And that’s before we even think about paintings or sculpture. Whether it’s dancing at Basel’s own nightclub, Nordstern at Cassio, post-fair drinks at Captain’s Bar, or dinner at Ho Lee Fook – you’re spoilt for choice if you want to let your hair down. But in terms of the serious business of art, there are more than 248 galleries from 32 countries and territories drawing an eclectic crowd made up of everyone from millennial Instagram snappers to bigwig collectors. If you’re one of them, make the most of your time and check out these five must-see attractions.

All eyes are on the global powerhouse gallery Hauser & Wirth as it makes its Hong Kong debut during Art Basel. Taking up space in the city’s H Queen’s tower – a shiny purpose-built high-rise that is home to a handful of galleries – you’ll find Hauser & Wirth spread across 10,000sq ft on the 15th and 16th floors. For its inaugural exhibition, the gallery will be presenting a solo show dedicated to LA contemporary artist Mr Mark Bradford, whose densely layered paintings and mixed media installations have come into sharp focus thanks to the recent record-breaking $11.9m sale of his “Helter Skelter I” (2007) artwork, the highest-ever auction price achieved by a living African-American artist.

New work by British sculptor sir Antony Gormley will be showcased at a solo exhibition, Rooting The Synapse, at White Cube Hong Kong. Through a series of 90-degree bends, each of the iron sculptures in the series form plant-like branching systems to depict a human body in space – a nod to the Metamorphosis Of Plants by writer and philosopher Mr Johann Wolfgang von Goethe whose botanical analogy compares the body of man to a tree planted in the sky.

Disembodied legs, a spotted pumpkin and a teddy bear made out of garbage have taken pride of place along Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour as part of the outdoor Harbour Arts Sculpture Park. Featuring large-scale works by 19 artists from seven countries, such as Mses Tracey Emin, Yayoi Kusama and Jenny Holzer, download the app for a comprehensive audio guide and get there early in the morning before the crowds (and heat) descend.

Stop off on the fifth/sixth floor of H Queen’s tower for a look at Mr Wolfgang Tillmans’ first exhibition in Hong Kong. Presented at the newly opened David Zwirner gallery, Mr Tillmans, who shot to fame in the 1990s photographing euphoric club kids, has turned his lens towards the technical side of things. Expect a broad range of photographs ranging from a wall-sized aerial view of the Sahara desert, an evening street in Hong Kong taken without flash, still lives of aquatic plants and even some Xeroxes.

No doubt one of the blockbuster exhibitions of the Art Basel Hong Kong schedule is the solo show, Refutation by controversial artist Mr Ai Weiwei at Tang Contemporary Art (on the 10th floor of H Queen’s tower). A comment on the current worldwide refugee crisis, his installation “Law Of The Journey” – a black inflatable boat carrying human figures in lifejackets – poses the question by the artist, who himself has been a refugee, “Can the control of those in power stop the human desire for freedom?”