Swat Beijing Summer 2009

Today, I visited two galleries next to each other at the heart of the thriving art gallery town, Factory 798.? My interpreter, Xiaoxiao, an incredibly interesting graduate student from Peking University was kind enough to set up interviews with the Century Gallery and the Asia Art Center owners.

(Below is a view inside the Century Gallery)

Something that I noticed which has not so much hindered but has been a minor obstacle is learning to work with a middleman, or an interpreter. While I am completely appreciative of my interpreter and her talent, I feel like an intruder coming in with my English questions. Most times, the body language with which my interviewees respond however indicates that they’re very willing to tell me about their lives. In fact, the two facts I first provide them with: 1) I barely speak Chinese and 2) I’m making a documentary, actually puts me on a pedestal. So I’ve noticed that at least in the field of art, Western interest and attention is valued–a definite advantage I have while conducting my research because people want to talk to me.

As a result, specifically in reference to today’s trip, I learned a lot about the business side of the art world. I learned about the ratio of foreign and domestic art collectors in the 90s and now, the way that some galleries supply the demand (which is and has been for a while, controversial political paintings) while others try to create a demand with what they have because they believe in their artists. I learned that entering the world of galleries is a step that college graduates must consciously take, that it is a step outside the realm of academic painting that they have learned at school.

-Miyuki

I went to the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) today with my camcorder, a notepad, and high hopes. CAFA is the biggest and most government-funded arts university in China and I couldn’t wait to see what high profile teachers and passionate art students would have to say about the current art climate and their experiences at their well-known school.

Luckily my first interviewees at Tsinghua University’s Art School had friends studying painting at CAFA so I had an interview with a current senior in the undergraduate program. The first thing I noticed as I arrived at CAFA was the wide campus and the large modern sculptures decorating the manicured lawns. Before the interview my interviewee, Rui, showed me around the final undergraduate Chinese painting exhibition. Believe it or not, the detail of the Gustav Klimt-like painting above is from the show. I was blown away by the wide variety that Chinese painting encompasses and learned from Rui that she believed the most successful Chinese paintings used Western style painting techniques to express Chinese thought. Interesting. Her interview was pretty interesting too since unlike most Chinese parents (or all parents), her parents want her to become a professional artist.

Later though I found the undergrad and graduate level oil painting studios which were endlessly fascinating. My interpreter and I found several with at least 15 easels in each, with first year students painting from live models. And for the record, all of the paintings were spectacular. The graduate students were of course great painters too, but extremely mature and full of great insights. While I don’t want to bore you with the many anecdotes I picked up, one particularly insightful quote is the following: “Just like doctors heal their sick patients, the role of the artist is to document what’s happening in the community, to show people what’s wrong so that the art can heal and be a catalyst.” I was completely inspired.

Despite how exhausted I am now, I’m really excited about how the day went. Well, we’re about to go to dinner now. That’s all for now! Thanks for reading

-Miyuki

After a 16 hour plane ride, getting my temperature checked twice for Swine Flu and walking through heat detectors, I arrived in Beijing exhausted but excited. My groupmates Amanda, Mary, Will, Ben and our advisor Professor Huang were already at the Piao HOME Inn in Wangfujing, at the center of Beijing.

The first thing we decided to do as a group was to get business cards. Nothing fancy but something professional-looking, we told the store owners. And they are quite professional! I just gave a business card (mingpian in Chinese) to a potential interviewee today and by the look on his face and his agreement to be interviewed, our purchases were more than justified.

Anyways, Beijing is bustling, and the sky is grayer than I remember it being last summer I came. The food has given some of us….”bathroom trouble” … but hey at least it’s cheap and good!

As for our research topics, here’s what we sent the fellowship:

The overall title of this research endeavor is “Living Near the Central Power: Government Policy and the Realities of Life in Contemporary Beijing.” The goal is to “evaluate how concrete government actions affect residents in Beijing,” and “how Beijingers work with, around, and through government policy.”

• Miyuki Baker, ’12, “The Effects of the Chinese Government in Training Contemporary Artists in Beijing Higher Education”
• William Lin, ’12, “The Changing Nature of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment in Contemporary China”
• Amanda Ling Morrison, ’11, “Disparate Impact: Looking at the Effects of the One-Child Policy across Socio-Economic Strata”
• Mary Ayn Prager, ’11, “Outsiders and Insiders: Comparing Perspectives on Faith of Chinese Christians and Non-Christian Chinese on the Streets of Beijing”
• Benjamin Yelsey, ’11, “Government Impact on Public High School Science Education in Beijing”

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Well that’s all for today, but keep an eye out for new entries. We’re planning on writing about our research of course, but also things that we’ve noticed about daily life in Beijing–food, housing, the people and other miscellaneous topics.

-Miyuki