“Where do the artists live?”
One of the most crucial (and controversial) topics in Chinese contemporary art today is the uncertain future of its artist villages. As in other cities, artists in Chinese urban hubs like Beijing and Shanghai have long looked to the rural or industrial outskirts for cheap studios to live and work. Some areas like 798 Art District (Dashanzi) have gradually become semi-”official” art centers, as local governments and developers realized the commercial potential of cultural industries and the “Chinese contemporary art” brand. With a sleek new construction project at Songzhuang (pictured above), the government is actively trying to develop this area into a cultural hub for over 25,000 artists.
However, other communities have been repeatedly threatened (and in some cases demolished) by real estate developers hungry for more open land in these expanding cities. A new cycle of evictions began again in December, when artists in Beijing’s 008 Art Zone and Zhengyang Creative Art Zone were given one month to vacate their studios before demolition. Artists organized performances and protests, but in January the whole district was bulldozed as planned. At least 13 other art zones in Chaoyang are currently under threat, which would displace at least 1000 artists.
Some artists are taking legal action to protect their studios, but they don’t have high hopes. After just over a year, a Chinese artist (who prefers to remain anonymous) in the Beigao Art District will be moving this month to a new space past the sixth ring road in northern Beijing. The area is in a seeming transition state, with half-complete red brick warehouse-sized structures, mostly just shells erected in just the past few months in anticipation of greater compensation when the bulldozers come through.
“Today we are meeting at CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts), bringing a lawyer because we signed a 15-year contract three years ago. Now they say “out”. We are negotiating for compensation, but I don’t think we will get anything,” he says. “The real estate companies are tough, like gangsters. We are just little artists, we can’t stand up to them.”
It seems impossible to believe the still-swirling rumors that Caochangdi, an emerging district with numerous international galleries and high-profile studios, may also be razed – but anything is possible.
Further coverage:
“Moving with the Times” (Redevelopment of Suojiacun’s Huang Hua, 008 Art Zone, Zhengyang), China Daily
“Avatar”-themed protests by artists and public on demolition day, documented by European blogger here and here
“Imagination Meets Destruction” – art performance as protest, China Daily
“Partial victory in demolition fight”, China Daily
Also blogged by Shanghai Eye
And Hyperallergic
China Daily:
“Where Creativity Battles Cost” Rise of Songzhuang
DesignBoom:
DNA – Songzhuang Artist Village
Link back to this post:
http://review.redboxstudio.cn/2010/02/the-changing-landscape-of-beijings-artist-villages/
Upon returning to New York after her first visit to China, Soraya Broukhim provides a review of Wang Qingsong’s "When World's Collide" exhibition of photographs and videos at ICP. (
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