e-magazine
The Hot Zone
China's newly announced air defense identification zone over the East China Sea aims to shore up national security
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

cheap eyeglasses
Market Avenue
eBeijing

Lifestyle
Lifestyle
UPDATED: November 7, 2011 NO. 45 NOVEMBER 10, 2011
798 Transforms Modern Art Scene
Booming zone in Beijing is morphing from an Eden of creation into a high-end art market
By YU LINTAO
Share

CREATIVE: Art lovers visit an exhibition on September 24 during the Fifth 798 Art Festival in Beijing (CNSPHOTO)

In 10 years, an abandoned factory complex has developed into one of Beijing's cultural landmarks, the 798 Art Zone. Gone are the days when the area, without streetlights or public services such as taxis and toilets, provided a haven for many poor artists to paint their dreams. Some had their dreams come true while others did not, but one thing is now certain: the area has made a name for itself as China's contemporary art frontier, thanks to the perseverance of its original habitants in art creation.

As a growing number of art studios and galleries opened there, the zone operator drew a different blueprint for it: a state-of-the-art exhibition and trade center for paintings, sculptures and other artistic and creative works.

The Fifth 798 Art Festival, which was held from September 24 to October 16, offered some clues to this new orientation. The festival has exhibited a number of paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs of world-renowned contemporary artists from China, the United States, Japan and South Korea.

During the 22-day event, 20 galleries located in the zone held theme exhibitions, and 84 art institutions staged 108 exhibitions. The event, participated by artists from 25 countries, has attracted 750,000 visitors of whom 40 percent are foreigners, said statistics from the organizing committee.

Such a change, from an artists' haven to a prosperous art business center, was inevitable for 798 and its overseas counterparts such as New York's SoHo District, said Robert Bernell, an American art publisher who opened Time Zone 8 Book Club in the area in 2002.

"One thing is certain: The change has begun and big art agencies and famous brands will eventually replace individual artists here," said Bernell.

Rise to fame

The art zone is attractive for foreigners because it's a symbol of modern China and its active creation of contemporary art, while the Great Wall and Forbidden City represent China's past, said Bernell.

The art zone was born in 2000, when the landlord Seven Star Huadian Science and Technology Group relocated its money-losing subsidiary in the area elsewhere. With red-brick walls, gigantic Bauhaus-style workshops and Mao-era slogans, the deserted 798 factory complex in Chaoyang District attracted artists seeking an art Eden.

"I was impressed by dynamic art creation here when I first came to 798. Its spacious workshops and cheap rents are also very attractive," said Bernell.

By word-of-mouth, more artists and many of Bernell's friends opened or relocated their studios to the 798.

In 2003, the 798 Art Zone was named by Time magazine as one of the 22 cultural landmarks in the world. After successfully boycotting an attempt to rebuild the old factory into a hi-tech electronics zone in 2005, the artists witnessed the establishment of a "creative district and cultural park" in 798 in 2006.

A different roadmap has unfolded since then.

1   2   Next  



 
Top Story
-Protecting Ocean Rights
-Partners in Defense
-Fighting HIV+'s Stigma
-HIV: Privacy VS. Protection
-Setting the Tone
Related Stories
-Design Makes a Splash
-Irish Eyes Still Smiling
-Testing Public Taste
-China's Creative Spirit
-Aesthetically Pleasing
 
Most Popular
 
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved