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Dreaming in full color


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Dreaming in full color
By Xiao Changyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-21 08:14

This month's fiesta of contemporary art puts into place another plank in
the grand scheme of top curator Dong Mengyang (pictured). Dong is the
brain behind Art Beijing 2007 and is on a mission to take modern Chinese
art to the globe. "My dream is to be the most successful art curator in
China and to push Chinese contemporary art to the world," said Dong.

"The world is now turning its eyes towards the booming art market in
China. There are great opportunities for China to become the center of
Asian art, and what I am doing is to help China such chances."

Since 1993, Dong has organized 10 international art expos, including Art
Beijing, which kicks off on September 20. It leads a calendar of expos
and exhibitions in the capital this month.

Elegant and a little shy, Dong, 40, looks more like a sensitive artist
than a shrewd businessman.

"I never thought my life would be so closely tied with the Chinese art
market," said Dong.

Crazy about painting since childhood, Dong's dream had been to become a
famous painter. He entered China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1988 and
studied print for four years. After graduation, he joined China National
Culture and Art Company.

"There, I found a big gap between my dream and reality," Dong said.
Instead of painting, Dong found he was busy with dull office trifles.

"At that time, our company was thinking of holding the first art expo in
China, and I was then involved in the preparation and organization. "

Dong and his colleagues had no experience and little clue as to how the
expo should run. They rented a field and invited many artists to attend.

The expo turned out to be a jumbled free fair, where artists, like
peddlers, displayed their works in every corner. There were no galleries,
agencies or art organizations represented. "At that time, art galleries
and agencies were just budding in China, and few contemporary Chinese
artists had the idea to sign with them," Dong said.

"But in the West, most attendants of the art expos were galleries which
act as the agencies for artists, to introduce them to the international
art market, to promote their works and to create communication between
collectors and artists."

"I then realized I would never be an artist," he said.

Instead, Dong set about creating a solid platform for Chinese artists and
international galleries. He resigned from his company and held the first
International Galleries Expo in Beijing in 2004 as an independent curator.

To his surprise, the first expo attracted about 100 galleries from all
over the world, all of which showed great interest in the contemporary
Chinese art market. The event also became the top art news of that year.

The second galleries expo in 2005 was of a much larger scale, with the
value of exhibited artworks reaching more than 100 million yuan. Top
international galleries, such as America's Gagosian Gallery and Hong
Kong's Hanart TZ Gallery, attended for the first time.

"This year's Art Beijing will definitely create a new record for
turnover," Dong said confidently.

"On the basis of last year's success, the art business turnover would
reach more than 200 million yuan.

"But it doesn't mean that Chinese art has enough recognition in the
world," he said.

For example, said Dong, few works by Chinese artists were exhibited at
the Basel Art Expo, the biggest of its kind in the world, where the
annual turnover of artworks reaches more than $300 million.

(China Daily 09/19/2007 page18)

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