BEIJING.- Building on the success of previous editions, GWBJ 2019 saw engagement in the event increase across the board. Leading the conversation of artistic development in the capital, GWBJ linked four of Beijing’s art districts and further bridged local and international art scenes. This year, the platform incorporated several new non-profit institutions, including the CAFA Art Museum, Faurschou Foundation and Song Art Museum, and three themed VIP forums received praise from guests. VIPs from many of the world’s leading institutions for contemporary art were in attendance, while new sectors introduced public art and new media practices to local audiences, celebrating established and emerging names in the process.

This year brought together 27 galleries and institutions across four of Beijing’s art districts, including 798 Art Zone, Caochangdi Art District, Tianzhu Town in Shunyi District and Huajiadi—home to CAFA and CAFA Art Museum. This represents a 22% increase on 2018, and was underlined by strong sales throughout the week. GWBJ welcomed a record of more than 120,000 visitors, an increase of 20% on the previous year. Esteemed guests included arts patron Uli Sigg; members from the DSL, Rubell and Boros Collections; Marcella Lista, Chief Curator for the New Media Collection at the National Museum of Modern Art – Centre Pompidou; Michael Govan, Director of LACMA; Ann Philbin, Director of Hammer Museum, UCLA; Gregor Muir, Director of Collection, International Art, Tate Modern; and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of Serpentine Galleries. This edition also witnessed vast improvements to the services offered by the GWBJ platform, including bilingual outdoor visual design, convenient and clear guided tours, and improved facilities for VIP guests. These changes further illustrate the strengths GWBJ brings to the sustained development of Beijing’s art ecosystem, bringing together collectors and institutions as well as both international and domestic audiences.

GWBJ Director Amber Wang states, “We are overjoyed with the success of this year’s event, and the positive turn out from domestic and international visitors alike. Beijing continues to prove its artistic and creative merit alongside other major arts hubs in Asia. Over the next year, the GWBJ team will work to strengthen the platform’s cultural ties to the city to ensure an even greater instalment in 2020.”

This year, Star Gallery took home the Best Exhibition Award for “Spring Breeze”, featuring work from Pultizer Prize–winning photographer Liu Heung Shing. The jury panel comprised Marcella Lista, chief curator for the new media collection at the National Museum of Modern Art – Centre Pompidou; Carol Yinghua Lu, curator and director of Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum; Mark Rappolt, editor-in-chief of ArtReview and ArtReview Asia; Uli Sigg, patron of the arts and Tang Xin, head of art collection for Taikang Insurance Group and director of Taikang Space.[1]

The addition of Special Sectors deepened audience impact by offering an array of positions beyond standard commercial practices. An extension of the greater collaboration between GWBJ and Zurich Art Weekend (ZAW), the Visiting Sector established greater links between the Chinese and Swiss contemporary art scenes. During the conversation “Where is the mid-sized gallery headed? The chances and challenges of tomorrow”, Eva Presenhuber, founder of Galerie Eva Presenhuber, and Victor Gisler, founder of Mai 36 Galerie, joined Qu Kejie, founder of Magician Space, and Sun Ning, founder of Platform China, as well as Amy Sherlock, deputy editor of frieze, in discussing strategies for the survival of mid-sized galleries. Two select galleries in Beijing will be given the same opportunity to participate in ZAW this summer, and co-host talks. Curated by Lu Mingjun, the Up&Coming Sector featured more than 30 emerging artists focusing on new media practices, while the Public Sector featured some six works displayed across 798 Art Zone and The Opposite House in Beijing’s embassy district.

GWBJ Chief Sponsor Taikang Insurance Group wowed viewers with a rare glimpse of 70 works from the Taikang Collection. “China Landscape: Selections from the Taikang Collection 2019” spanned four floors of a refurbished office building on 798 Art Zone’s northwest corner and was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue. For Beijing Art Summit, Taikang Insurance Group President & CEO Chen Dongsheng was a panellist for “How Art Promotes Urban Development”, and Taikang Space Director Tang Xin gave her thoughts during “New Tastes, Different Prospects”. Taikang Insurance Group Assistant President Ying Weiwei contributed to the GWBJ VIP talk “The Impact and Significance of Corporate Collections” co-hosted by frieze. At their Caochangdi Art District space, Taikang Space featured a group show titled “Tracing the Mushroom at the End of the World.”