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Many parts of East and Southeast Asia, as well as their diasporas, will be celebrating Lunar New Year on Tuesday. But the Year of the Horse technically arrived on February 4, the first day of spring and the beginning of the new zodiac.
As the seventh sign of the 12-year cycle of animal signs rooted in the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, the Horse symbolizes freedom, vitality, and success, as seen in the Chinese idiom 馬到功成 (“When the horse arrives, success follows”). This is also a year of the Fire Horse, according to the sexagenary cycle. So, what’s in store for this fiery Year of the Horse?
The Global Economy and the Art Market
The pillar of Fire signals a turbulent year dominated by disputes, unrest, and warfare, according to Spencer Lee Ying Chung, a Hong Kong-based master of feng shui and Chinese metaphysics who made his predictions for The Asia Pivot with the bazi method. “Both financial markets and gold may see major ups and downs and high volatility,” Lee said.
Chan Ying Yung, a Hong Kong-based Chinese metaphysics practitioner and art industry insider, predicted that, based on his I-Ching reading, obstacles and divisions seen in the Year of the Snake will continue. “Trump and Xi will not become friends suddenly, for example, but things won’t get worse, and that’s already a positive omen,” Chan told me.
The Fire Horse year is favorable for development in areas related to energy, technology, culture, art, media, and beauty, Lee said. Chan warned of a slight decline in the sales of blue-chip masterpieces but said that works in the mid- to lower-tier price points will perform well.
New (Art) World Order.
John Clang—a Singaporean artist based between Singapore and New York who has mastered the art of I-Ching and Ziwei Doshu (the Chinese equivalent of astrology), adopting them for his artistic practice—told me that 2026 will be a year of transformation that lays the groundwork for 2027.
John Clang, Reading by an Artist (2023-present) at the Sharjah Biennial, 2025. Courtesy of the artist.
New markets such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Gulf, and the wider Global South will play a starring role, according to Chan and Clang. This means the art boom in India and the feverish development of the Gulf’s art infrastructure will continue throughout the year. Chan specified that traditional markets such as Europe and North America will slow down, adding that Vietnam is one emerging market to watch.
Market growth will be pronounced after the second quarter of 2026, Clang predicted, but such speedy growth will be far less than during the 2021 market peak and that it will take place after a sudden change—“some sort of revolt” that affects the whole industry in the first half of year, with “big disruption” from the Global South.
Be Bold
Video works, as well as concept-driven pieces, reflecting the world we are living in, will have an advantage, Clang said. Lee expects that abstract and conceptual works will fare better because Fire corresponds to things that are intangible and non-physical. And A.I. and digital works will likely have breakthrough moments, Chan said, as this new year favors new artists and new artistic movements. Works that explore one’s inner world will also be welcomed, Chan added.
Installation view of Refik Anadol, Quantum Memories (2020) at the NGV Triennial 2020. © Refik Anadol. Photo: Tom Ross.
Predictions based on Chinese metaphysics should be taken with a few grains of salt, but change is certainly coming no matter what. How will things pan out? Stay tuned to The Asia Pivot. In the meantime, we wish you a healthy and prosperous Year of the Horse.
