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Here’s a piece on China’s art mkt stuff, Shanghai Eye exclusive…

Green shoots of recovery in China’s art market with government led funding

Painting sells for RMb 9 million (USD 1.3 mln)

China’s art market is seeing signs of recovery, partly led by government spending initiatives. But artists are protesting high rents in Beijing and Shanghai, conversely with different departments of the same authorities that are spending money to boost the market.
Galleries in Shanghai and Beijing reported a recovery in sales starting in February, following a four month quiet period.
A review of China’s major galleries by the Chinese magazine Art and Investment showed most major galleries’ strategy will be to spend the year focusing on ‘propaganda and education,’ to entice China’s wealthy into the contemporary art market. Despite having high numbers of billionaires and millionaires China’s wealthiest have remained reticent on joining the contemporary arts market to date, with only around 10 large scale collectors in the country.
Many galleries are planning major shows in April, and Beijing will host two art fairs in the month, the Ministry of Culture backed CIGE and Art Beijing. Dong Menyang, director of Art Beijing said that his fair has secured RMB 5 million (USD 730,000) funding from the Art Beijing fund, a government initiative to promote the arts in the city. “Beijing government has also set aside RMB 1 billion (USD 146 million) to promote cultural industry development,” Dong said.
“This year we will use the art fair as a way to educate,” Dong said. “In China, people still buy art with their ears, we want to instill some art appreciation into them.” In Dong’s opinion artworks selling in the region of RMB 100,000 (USD 14,000) will have a stronger market this year. Commenting on the proliferation of art fairs in Asia, Dong said “it will take 3 to 5 years for these fairs to consolidate, and an Asian art fair brand will emerge, something like Art Basel. I don’t think it will be in Singapore, there are no artists there, the artists are here (in Beijing). Hong Kong has its benefit on tax, we will see how that develops, but I think it is too early for us to talk about tax in China, we still need to encourage people to want to buy art in the first instance,” Dong said. According to Dong, Art Beijing and CIGE will have very similar formats, and Art Beijing is formed from people who left CIGE. “It is a very similar art fair, the idea is similar, the people are different,” Dong said. Dong said he had a headache when he heard CIGE changed its opening date from May to April 14, Art Beijing opens of April 26.
Hong Kong Art fair has just announced 109 galleries have been approved, out of over 200 applications.
Hong Kong Art fair has just announced 109 galleries have been approved, out of over 200 applications.
Many galleries in Beijing are still closed, including large galleries such as Pace Beijing and Farschou. Pace Beijing plans to reopen in May, and large visible renovation work is underway in the 798 and Caochangdi art zones.
In Shanghai, signs of recovery are also apparent after a period of consolidation. Shanghai’s newly government established OICT platform, which allows for tax free sales, saw its first transaction with the sale of the work “Bai Shizhuan,” an oil painting depicting a Chinese figure from a classical story by Liu Linghua to Silverstone Terry investments for RMB 9 million (USD 1.31 million). The artist Liu Linghua is a favourite of the Chinese Cultural Ministry, and his works were presented to world leaders at the Olympics and APEC meetings, and a commemorative stamp featuring his work will be issued by the post office.
Ren Yibiao, manager of the OICT said “we only charged a 1.2% commission (to arrange the deal), as opposed to 20% or so for an auction house.”
The spokesperson for Silverstone Terry, Yang Zhen, said his fund will invest several million USD into artworks this year, both Chinese and foreign, and are currently in talks with an Australian artist.
But the downturn has had a severe impact on many artists, especially those who are not yet in the higher selling price brackets. In Beijing artists have been staging sit down protests against high rents at the 798 art district, with little effect, as the 798 management company, 7 Stars Group, increased rents from 50-100% beginning this year. Huang Rui, the founding artist in 798, who has since left the area, said he was aware many artists have not paid their rent for several months. 7 Stars, a state company, formerly managed the electrical manufacturing business’ in the area, and became a real estate management company after the Chinese government approved the change of 798 into an arts and cultural district. Huang Rui said as far as he was aware, 7 Stars management has not undergone any training relating to their change of focus from managing an electrical equipment industrial zone to an arts and culture district, though staff members are still the same. 7 Stars would not comment.