{"id":2147,"date":"2024-06-11T15:08:49","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/?p=2147"},"modified":"2024-06-11T15:08:49","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:08:49","slug":"despite-economic-uncertainty-gallery-weekend-beijing-left-dealers-feeling-optimistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/despite-economic-uncertainty-gallery-weekend-beijing-left-dealers-feeling-optimistic\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Economic Uncertainty, Gallery Weekend Beijing Left Dealers Feeling Optimistic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toward the end of a particularly turbulent May, China made global headlines for its\u00a0military drills<\/a>\u00a0around Taiwan, done in response to the island\u2019s newly elected leader. This past weekend, China\u2019s defense chief affirmed the \u201cthreats of force\u201d at Asia\u2019s biggest defence summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This did little to mitigate growing\u00a0concerns\u00a0about the economic and security implications of rising tensions between China, the US, and Taiwan.<\/p>\n

But back in the country\u2019s capital city, at the historic 798 Art District, it was business as usual with the launch of the eighth edition of\u00a0Gallery Weekend Beijing<\/a>. Running from May 28 to June 2, 2024, with a VIP preview in the days before the event\u2019s opening, Gallery Weekend Beijing this year included 27 participating galleries and nonprofit institutions in the main sector, and 8 galleries from locales beyond the city in the visiting sector, plus \u201cThe inner side of the wind,\u201d a show curated by Yuan Jiawei.<\/p>\n

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This year, Gallery Weekend Beijing, as well as the city\u2019s two major art fairs, Beijing Dangdai and Jingart, all held their openings at the same time, drawing a larger crowd to the city in the hopes of reigniting flagging excitement surrounding Beijing\u2019s art scene, according to industry insiders.<\/p>\n

The main theme for this year\u2019s Gallery Weekend Beijing, or GWBJ as it\u2019s known for short, was \u201cDrift to Re-Turn.\u201d It encapsulated the international artistic connections that participating galleries, institutions, and curated projects aimed to create through the annual showcase.<\/p>\n

Speaking to\u00a0ARTnews<\/em>, GWBJ program director Yang Jialin said, \u201cOn a deeper level, GWBJ, as a platform for contemporary art exchange, hopes to help the outstanding artists and their work \u2018drift\u2019 out to the world, allowing the voices from Beijing to reach the international stage; and to let excellent international art content \u2018return\u2019 to the local art scene, presenting it to the Chinese audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victor Wang, chief curator and artistic director of M Woods, a private museum at 798 Art District, said, \u201cUnlike Hong Kong and Shanghai, Beijing\u2019s art ecology operates uniquely through a mix of connections and disconnections with the outside world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s scale, legacy, and structure provide the opportunity for some galleries and institutions to thrive in isolation, building frameworks that benefit from this separateness. Meanwhile, others continue to actively seek connections with the global art scene, striving to create bridges and establish networks beyond Beijing.<\/p>\n

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Gallery Weekend Beijing 2024, Beijing, China.<\/span>\u00a9\ufe0fGALLERY WEEKEND BEIJING<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m personally uplifted whenever I see marginalized voices and radical thinkers presented in Beijing, in dialogue with this local cultural context, especially those perspectives we might not be able to showcase or engage with often locally,\u201d Wang added.<\/p>\n

One such exhibition was tucked away in a small private room at\u00a0Magician Space<\/a>. The quietly provocative show is paradoxically titled \u201cRoom of Boundlessness\u201d and is curated by Liu Ding, one of the artistic directors of Yokohama Triennale 2023. Upon first look, there seemed to be nothing contentious: viewers were greeted by nothing much at all, with the artworks left facedown on the floor or propped against the wall. That, it turned out, was just the beginning of the show. Visitors were invited to pick up the works, by the likes of Hu Shangzong and Feng Guodong, and hang the pieces themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur objective is to offer both local and international audiences the opportunity to engage with diverse forms of art and contribute to the overall artistic ecosystem,\u201d said Pojan Huang, researcher at Magician Space. By way of example, Huang cited the dedicated project called the Antechamber, which was designed specifically for experimental art.<\/p>\n

Magician Space also presented a solo exhibition running till July by New York\u2013based artist Timur Si-Qin. The show, which explores the relationship between humans and nature from different perspectives, including a spiritual one, proved particularly popular.<\/p>\n

Some quality exhibitions, stunning artist studios, and frenetic programming aside, there were still concerns regarding the volatile climate of geopolitics and fiscal uncertainties in China and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the current global landscape, the first layer of meaning of the theme of GWBJ is its literal sense: we are always in an unstable state, with an uncertain future,\u201d said Jialin.<\/p>\n

Just a few months ago,\u00a0Bloomberg<\/em>\u00a0reported\u00a0that China faced a series of challenges from shrinking population to record property downturn to rising trade tensions. Amid conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and with trade wars ongoing, the global economy looks precarious, and China is not an exception. In fact, as tensions with the US ratchet up, Chinese businesses are\u00a0reportedly\u00a0looking toward countries such as Mexico and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

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Gallery Weekend Beijing 2024, Beijing, China.<\/span>\u00a9\ufe0fGALLERY WEEKEND BEIJING<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe art market is not optimistic in light of the ongoing deterioration of geopolitics and the decline of the global economic situation,\u201d Huang said. \u201cA cold wave is approaching not only China, but also the global gallery industry, making future prospects for the art business increasingly challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, the days of quick sales and waiting lists are waning,\u201d said Mathieu Borysevicz, founder and director of\u00a0BANK<\/a>, a Shanghai gallery that participated in GWBJ. \u201cRight now, everybody has sobered up and is working a lot harder to make each sale. China is still the second-largest art market in the world, and the economy is resilient, but it has created a widespread sense of precarity. In fact, I must say that in my 20-plus years of coming to China, this is the first time I have witnessed widespread pessimism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet there remains cause for some optimism\u2014or at least artistic resilience.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, when the economy isn\u2019t so great, art tends to get more interesting,\u201d Borysevicz added. \u201cFor too long, the emphasis was disproportionately on the market at the expense of criticality. I hope the shift away from the market will help vitalize the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huang agreed, saying, \u201cWhen Magician Space was established in 2008, it coincided with the economic crisis, and the exhibition was not conceived for commercial purposes, thus our objectives extend beyond business. It has been a source of great satisfaction to continue delving deeply into the work of our favourite artists and to persevere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, other industry leaders are paying more attention to their regional counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cConnecting local artists and the Beijing art scene with international communities is crucial\u2014especially now, given the growing skepticism toward globalization and the current economic and geopolitical climate,\u201d Wang said. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome to see our colleagues and communities from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and other countries perambulating 798, experiencing firsthand our institutions and galleries, and seeing what Beijing has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source\uff1ahttps:\/\/www.artnews.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toward the end of a particularly turbulent May, China made global headlines for its\u00a0military drills\u00a0around Taiwan, done in response to the island\u2019s newly elected leader. This past weekend, China\u2019s defense chief affirmed the \u201cthreats of force\u201d at Asia\u2019s biggest defence summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This did little to mitigate growing\u00a0concerns\u00a0about the economic and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,7,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artist","8":"category-auction","9":"category-events","10":"category-gallery","11":"category-latest-news"},"yoast_head":"\nDespite Economic Uncertainty, Gallery Weekend Beijing Left Dealers Feeling Optimistic - Investable Art Auctioneer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Toward the end of a particularly turbulent May, China made global headlines for its\u00a0military drills\u00a0around Taiwan, done in response to the island\u2019s newly elected leader.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/despite-economic-uncertainty-gallery-weekend-beijing-left-dealers-feeling-optimistic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Despite Economic Uncertainty, Gallery Weekend Beijing Left Dealers Feeling Optimistic - 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