Artist Colonies
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond
There have long been artist colonies in Běijīng, notably one on the grounds of the ‘Old’ Summer Palace, mainly known only to the artists themselves, living hand-to-mouth well before Chinese art began to catch the attention of the West.
It was partly long-overdue eviction from this site in 1983, and the search for new, cheap studio space, that led to the discovery and the opening as studios and galleries of abandoned electronics factories in the city’s northeast, originally built for the Chinese by East Germans in the 1950s.
Several galleries and studios were in operation by the time the 798 (Qī Jiǔ Bā) Gallery opened in 2002, but it was this cavernous factory space with its ’50s German architecture and big-character Máo-era slogans still intact on the beams, that caught public attention. Artists could be seen working in their studios, and sold their works directly. More galleries opened, traffic increased, more factory space was converted, and restaurants, cafés, bookshops, and other facilities opened to serve the growing crowds.
The artists began to move out again, complaining about crass commercialism and the lack of peace to work. They moved to other, further-flung locations, only to see the same cycle begin again.
But for the visitor, even the most commercial art districts can repay a visit. While much new Chinese art is aimed straight at opening foreign wallets, there are the beginnings of more introspective pieces, and certainly much to startle and entertain, whether for sheer inventiveness or crassness. Entry to most galleries and studios is free (where signs suggest a small charge, that is usually simply to keep out visitors who obviously don’t know how to behave, and foreigners are almost never charged). There are museum-quality installations to view, and smaller, affordable works that might reasonably be taken home (although see A Licence to Paint Money, and the Shopping section for many caveats). At weekends these areas are a-bustle with Chinese visitors photographing each other in front of the artworks, photographing the artworks themselves, and photographing the ‘no photography’ signs next to the artworks. And there’s additional pleasure in the architecture, whether industrial spaces put to new purposes or purpose-built.
The now very commercial Dà Shānzi 798 Art District, as it is more formally known, boasts major foreign-run galleries and merges real art, tat, fashion, and light entertainment. At Cǎochǎngdì Art District some galleries still aim for a nurturing and exclusive relationship with artists who in general are otherwise typically more given to self-promotion and sales opportunism. But the first ancillary small enterprises have already appeared. Further out, at Sòng Zhuāng Artists Village, artists disdaining the coffee-shop culture that has now invaded 798 can still be found at work in their studios.
Further colonies are already in development around the airport or have already come and gone, such as the 008 and Zhèngyáng districts, victims of Běijīng’s never-ending redevelopment. Attacks by armed developer-hired thugs who beat up artists and attempted to tear down studios led to a risky demonstration in central Běijīng in 2010 by a group of artists led by Aì Wèiwèi (艾未未). The resulting international publicity led, for once, to the payment of substantial compensation to artists forced to terminate their leases and move out. But intermittent demolitions and evictions at several other sites climaxed with a large campaign of destruction in 2019 that saw the end of Luómǎ Hú, Zuǒyòu (where Aì Wèiwèi had opened a second studio after his Cǎochǎngdì base was suddenly demolished in 2018), Huántiě, and most of Cǎochǎngdì.
For news of their latest replacements, where serious artists for the most part only want to see serious buyers, ask at the major galleries in the districts mentioned below.
Artist Colonies
A Licence to Paint Money
Dà Shānzi 798 Art District 大山子艺术区
Cǎochǎngdì Art District 草场地艺术区
Big Character
Sòng Zhuāng Artists Village 宋庄画家村
Other Art Zones
Next in Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond: A Licence to Paint Money (story)
Previously: Peking Man Site Museum at Zhōukǒudiàn
Main Index of A Better Guide to Beijing.
For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.
