Tête-à-tête with Beijing

Macau Artists' AFA Beijing Contemporary Art Centre opens.

A little over a year ago, on the 8th of December 2007, six local artists inaugurated their first art gallery. With help from a local entrepreneur, James Chu, Konstantin Bessmertny, Ng Fong Chao, Bianca Lei, Tong Chong and Kent Ieong opened “St. Paul’s Fine Art” right next to the most famous touristic site in Macau. Recently, as a first step towards developing a larger perspective on Macau’s art scene, the association of six artists, called Art For All (AFA), took aim at presenting the project under the great banner that is the “Art Market”.

As a result, during this year’s “National Day Golden Week” which began on October 1st and celebrated the 59th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, AFA decided to open their second venture right in the nation’s capital city. Situated in Beijing’s 318 International Art Area, the AFA Beijing Contemporary Art Centre held its first exhibition on the 4th of October. The Exhibition of Macau Contemporary Art attracted no less than 200 visitors on its opening day, and two of the art works displayed by the 16 represented Macau artists were sold during the show’s first week.

There was fervent discussion among the visitors. For many, the sense of “timing” came first to mind. Now that the reputable (notorious, for some) Beijing Art Market was beginning to show signs of fatigue – as proved by record low auction sales in both Hong Kong and the capital – the ability of Macau’s artistic forces to claim a share in it seemed somehow farfetched.

Nevertheless, while scepticism feeds on the uncertain nature of everything, enthusiasm acts without delay. Over the past four months, Director of AFA James Chu worked incessantly, travelling between Beijing and Macau. Together with Macau artist Cindy Ng and Beijing artist Shi Lan, James Chu established the Art Centre with 3,000 square feet of gallery space and an art studio designed for artist residency. The objective of AFA’s plan is loud and clear, and the opportunity has come! The opportunity to do what? According to the association’s statement on the project, it is “to enhance the development of Macau’s contemporary art, to increase overseas exchange and to facilitate local art creations.” Still, in order for that to happen Macau must do more than just speculate on the future of the market. Deeper reflection is required to evaluate the true intent behind such a project. And beneficial influence will be brought about only through insights learnt from the situation. For this, the “Beijing Experience” has a lot to offer, indeed.

With one of the largest and most dynamic art markets in the world, Beijing’s art scene is impossible to discern in a single-minded way. While most of the emphasis is centred on the market, the periphery of such a huge creative force also has its own say. Arriving in Beijing, one soon realises that art has long since become part of its “landscape”. If you ask local citizens about the most visited touristic sites in the capital, they answer without hesitation that there are three “must-see” places in Beijing: the Palace Museum, the Great Wall and... the 798 Art Zone. Acknowledged as a popular and trendy spot in the metropolis, the 798 Art Zone lodges hundreds of art galleries and is considered by Chinese artists as the place to be hailed or to be condemned. Young Shanghai artist Li Xiaosong, who was preparing an exhibition in one of the largest galleries in the art zone, described the place as having both “the best art of our times” and “the lamest art rubbish” one could imagine. The art market, in this case, acts as a double-edged sword. Li continued, “Many investors only see the lucrative side of their plans and ignore the quality of the art works. The market

has reached its peak of folly during the recent two to three years, and as we take a look around at the 798, we see that many art works are in fact made by impostors, to satisfy inexperienced buyers.”

Concerning the recent very apparent regression in market sales, many artists and curators claim the situation is in fact “very much welcomed.” According to 29-year-old Su Wenxiang, who works as one of 15 curators in the curatorial think-tank at the Iberia Centre for Contemporary Art located in the 798 Art Zone, all that the younger generations of artists were waiting for was just such an opportunity. “This is an opportunity for the Beijing art market to go through a ‘clean-up’,” Su explained. “It doesn’t matter whether it happens for investors, buyers or artists. In the face of the crisis, we are sure that only the best ones will prevail. This is also the best moment for discussion and reflection. As the superficial values of the art market are exhausted, artists will find the urge to create on new bases and ideas.”

What about Macau, then? Facing the challenges at hand in the current Beijing art scene, Macau’s role is yet to be defined. According to James Chu, the first step was the key step, as well. “One of the heaviest burdens that Macau artists have to carry is their very own label!” James Chu says. “We stay in Macau, we call ourselves Macau artists and we don’t want to go anywhere else. Macau’s art scene is too small a circle for us to be content with it. By going to Beijing, we are obliged to leave behind our so-called ‘Macau Identity’. We are part of the entire artistic current that happens in Beijing as well as other places in the world.”

Indeed, by confronting the preoccupations found on the Beijing art scene, the artists in Macau are provided with distance to reflect on their own situation. While figurative and realistic approaches are used extensively among Mainland Chinese artists, one sees that abstract expressions are more frequent in Macau. James Chu has this to comment: “In one way, our Macau Contemporary Art Exhibition has indeed offered something quite different from the general trend in Beijing. Since, in Macau, we do not have a market, we are not dependent on any market pressures. In this way we feel free to detach ourselves from the mainstream Chinese market orientation, which is based exclusively on realistic or figurative paintings. On the other hand, we artists also have to ask ourselves why most of Macau’s artists are making abstract paintings? Is it coincidence, or have we been feeding on one another’s ideas within this small place called Macau?”

In order to search out the answers to these questions, James Chu and other local artists have decided to step out of their usual circle and meet Beijing. More exhibitions are expected at the AFA Beijing Contemporary Art Centre. Chinese artists in Beijing will also be invited to showcase their works in the gallery, so that a situation of diversity can be created for the sake of dialogue and exchange.