SongZhuang Artists Village Visit
I went to see the DunHuang exhibition in the Chinese Art Institute this afternoon. It is a rather small exhibition. I finished it in less than couple of hours and before 2 pm. I decided to drive east to the SongZhuang artist village.
I have heard a lot about this artist village and have never been there once. I have visited the 798 art district many times and was told that the art work in exhibition in 798 was mostly produced in SongZhuang.
Taking the Jingtong and Jingha express way, I arrived in SongZhuang in less than 30 minutes and got a look at this famous but yet quite village. SongZhuang?lies in the east suburb of Beijing. There are about 500 artists lived in several villages around SongZhuang, forming the largest art community in the world, which is known as Artist Village. Since 1994, Artist Village has built its international fame for China contemporary art, and many works here are sold directly to the international art market and favored by museums and collectors.
I first visited the visitor center in the heart of the village. I was greeted by a very friendly Chinese lady who showed me a map. I was introduced to a few exhibition halls down in the street. I then visited two of the most prominent exhibition halls. They are actually giant factory type of buildings show off the art works. The construction quality of the building is rather poor. But the art work is intriguing. After the exhibition hall, I walked around the village tried to have a glance of the artists