The use of masks is decreasing across Beijing galleries Courtesy of Gallery Weekend Beijing
Gallery hopping was go last weekend in China s capital city with the fifth edition of Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ, 22 April to 2 May), featuring 30 local galleries and museums as well hosting popups by eight visiting galleries from other cities.
The event, kicking off with three days of VIP programmes and parties, was moved from its usual March dates after several small outbreaks of Covid-19 in the city last winter. Moving it from March meant double the work for us, we had to do everything all over again, which took a lot of time. With some 30 galleries, we couldn t expect them to change their exhibition schedules, and upend their annual plans. Still about a third were able to hold their openings this weekend, says the GWBJ director, Amber Wang. Collectors are very supportive, the shows are a good quality, and the schedule was quite balanced this year. People wer
Art Seen: Gallery Weekend Beijing Brings Domestic and International Creators to the Capital, Apr 27-May 2 Apr 27, 2021 8:30 am | 1 comment | 39 reads
Although fans of the motion picture arts will have to wait until August for their big celebration, the Beijing International Film Festival, fans of just about every other art form will be kept busy over the next five days as
Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ) kicks off today, Apr 27, and runs through May 2. This year marks the fifth iteration of the festival when the capital plays host to domestic and international creators of contemporary art and performance, spread throughout the city’s premier art hub, 798 Art District, and various other venues dotted across town.
Curating this year’s Public Sector is Bao Dong. Can you let us know how he got on board?
Each year, GWBJ invites an established curator to curate its Public Sector, helping to bring in more diverse voices and engage more audiences with contemporary art, especially in public settings. Bao Dong is a renowned and experienced curator whose previous curatorial practices have explicitly demonstrated his diverse and cutting-edge approach. He s a prominent member of Beijing’s contemporary art scene and his critical mindset through not only his curatorial practice but also his research and writing was exactly what we were looking for in this year’s edition. His experience working with important institutions in Beijing and beyond as well as leading Chinese and international artists made him an excellent choice for the role.
ArtReview
While biennials and festivals are once again being pushed back as successive waves of COVID-19 cases catalyse more lockdowns globally, announcements on curators and themes of future events continue unabated.
In Brazil, organisers of the Mercosul Biennial announced Marcello Dantas as taking the reins of the 2022 edition. Dantas’s last biennial experience was in Vancouver, in 2014, but since the curator has become known for a series of immensely popular solo touring shows for artists in Latin America, including ambitious surveys for Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor and Michelangelo Pistoletto.
Ai’s 2019 retrospective in Brazil, his first in the South America, was the most visited exhibition globally that year with 1.1 million people filing through stops in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba. At Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro,
What was your first purchase (and how much did you pay for it)?
Reading by Li Shan, an acrylic work on canvas created by the Chinese contemporary artist in New York, was the work that began my collection. It is a conceptual painting that originated from a sketch of an overall series of biological studies. I had the honor to know Li Shan through “The Edge of Vision,” an exhibition I curated back in 2014 at Linda Gallery. As one of the most important artists of Chinese contemporary art, Li has participated in local and international exhibitions and events, and his practice has experienced radical developments along the way, including his interest in BioArt.