The Life and Times of Beijing’s Art District 798

Ten years ago, setting up an avant garde art studio in a derelict Beijing army electronics complex was considered eccentric and provocative. Today, Factory 798 has developed into a maze of contemporary art galleries, studios and cafes, attracting artists and visitors, students and collectors from across China and overseas.

We had reported on this interesting art space in March 2005 when CScout just launched its Beijing presence. Please read the first take here.

The renamed 798 Art District (also known as Dashanzi Art District) functions for gallery owners, artists and visitors on many levels. The walled compound of red brick factories, warehouses and offices set on a tree-lined grid of streets and lanes offers an oasis of calm. Only a stone’s throw away, the surrounding mayhem of Beijing’s ever-expanding urban sprawl, throwing up myriad apartment blocks and traffic-choked flyovers, seems a distant world, disconnected from 798’s isolated hotbed of creativity.

Until a few years ago, the vast majority of Chinese contemporary artists were off the art world’s radar - today it’s a different matter. Glowing reports of Beijing’s art scene have appeared recently in such prestigious publications as Time magazine, Vanity Fair, and Forbes. The blossoming of the 798 Art Zone, plus other smaller art districts in Beijing such as Caochangdi, Feijiacun and Songzhuang, has lured the international art establishment into investing in China’s current art scene. New galleries, some foreign-owned, open on a regular basis.

One such gallery is A3, owned by wildife photographer Juanli Sun and her British husband Alister Benn, who is also a photographer. In November 2007 Juanli opened A3 to showcase the fine art prints and contemporary works of her husband. The gallery is currently showing Alister’s architectural collection - taking high-resolution photos of Beijing architecture and then editing in Photoshop, he constructs stunning abstract images, whose interpenetrating planes and colors create a grand sense of scale, space and depth.

On a far larger scale, the new Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) has also recently opened in 798. Funded by Belgian collectors Guy and Miriam Ullens, who sought to build an eventual home for their collection of Chinese contemporary art, the Ullens Center includes a 3,000 square-meter exhibition space and 2,000 square meters of library, exhibition and auditorium space, making it by far the largest single venue in the 798 Arts District.

Despite 798’ s apparent success, the area’s rapid commercialisation is causing growing concern. Since rising rents and other costs make it increasingly difficult for some galleries and cultural institutions to survive, they are trying their hand at more profitable activities. These include using their sites to promote launches of big brands (such as Sony and Motorola), and even foreign fashion shows.

Such pressures affecting the global marketplace are likely to increase. Seven Star Group, who own 798, are eager to maximise the rental income paid by artists, galleries and other facilities. Rents have increased more than ten-fold during the past decade and will continue to climb as fashion and leisure companies make bids for space. Already, some observers are predicting 798 will suffer a fate like that of New York’s Soho neighborhood as high rents divert artistic talent elsewhere.

Other restrictions continue to constrain 798’s development. Newcomers, for instance, must submit themselves to the Seven Star Group and demonstrate that they meet certain criteria. The same goes for existing tenants seeking to renew their contract. Under such scrutiny and increasing financial pressures, the question remains: can 798 remain at the forefront of China’s artistic renaissance for much longer? Olympic visitors will see a thriving artistic community - only time will tell if it can retain its bohemian vigor.

798 on YouTube

Images by Daniel Allen and courtesy of A3 Gallery

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