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Meet China’s New Power Collectors (Part I): Three Influential Figures From The Art World

The busy months of October and November for the art world have been an opportunity to witness the omnipresence of a new wave of young and influential collectors from China. Whether it was in London for Frieze, in Paris for FIAC and the opening of the Inside China, an exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo led by art patron Adrian Cheng (34, Chairman of the K11 Art Foundation, who just made his entry to the ArtReview Power 100 List), or in New York for the exhibition of Chinese artist Wang Jianwei at the Guggenheim Museum, this new group of Chinese collectors was very much in focus.

This week, many of them are meeting again in Shanghai, for the second edition of Art021, an art fair founded itself by two young collectors, and already attracting international names such as Marian Goodman, White Cube, and Perrotin, as well as leading galleries from China.

“Meet China’s New Power Collectors” is a three-part focus series, exploring who are these new collectors and what does their emergence mean for the international art scene.

In this first part, three leading figures of this generation are sharing with us their approach on collecting, their vision, and long term strategies. They are Kelly Ying, Lin Han, and Chong Zhou.

From left to right: Lin Han, Kelly Ying, Chong Zhou

Kelly Ying (KY)

I don’t think you can truly collect art without being involved in the other aspects of the industry

Young and active collector from Shanghai. Originally working in the fashion industry, Ying is now focusing entirely on art. She is the co-founder of Art021, and the wife of collector David Chau (Zhou Dawei), 29, who is himself much involved in the art scene in China, supporting galleries and other cultural institutions.

Chong Zhou (CZ)

Art collecting is 50% of my career

25, graduated with a degree of art history from UCLA. He is a second-generation collector, and made his first art purchase art in 2010. His family runs a large pharmaceutical group. Zhou is based in Shanghai, where he also owns a restaurant, “Macasa”, displaying his art.

Lin Han (LH)

We are breaking or revising a lot of boundaries

27, studied animation design at Northumbria University in the United Kingdom. His first art purchase was a Zeng Fanzhi painting in 2013, which was the cover of Sotheby’s 40th anniversary day auction. Since then, he has opened the first private art museum in Beijing’s 798 Art District, the M Woods Museum, featuring more than 200 works. Lin is based in Beijing.

What motivated you to start collecting?

CZ: My family has been influential in this decision. They started collecting in 2001, a very early time for local Chinese collectors to buy contemporary art. My motivation today is to find and acquire influential young artists, including names like Sun Xun, Yang Yongliang, Gao Lei, Shi Zhiying, etc. I believe I have a strong sense of duty towards their development, since I am myself born in 1989. Trying to discover the next important artists is also motivating me, just like my family did in their time. . . .

Europe’s Largest Display of Chinese Lanterns and Illuminations for Festival of Light at Longleat

“Europe’s Largest Display of Chinese Lanterns and Illuminations for Festival of Light at Longleat”

by Nancy Connolly via “Bath Chronicle“

Finishing touches are being added to a stunning display of illuminated Chinese scenes at the Longleat estate and visitor attraction in Wiltshire.

A total of around 7,000 individual lanterns, miles and miles of silk and thousands of dazzling LED lights are being used to create a series of stunning tableaux for the Festival of Light at the rural estate.

The highlights of the spectacular event include a 70 metre dragon made up of 23,000 lit porcelain cups, bowls and plates, and mythical creatures called ‘qilin’, which are each made from over 65,000 glass phials filled with coloured liquid.

The outdoor extravaganza also features a 20 metre tall Chinese temple, huge traditional Chinese masks, a family of life size pandas in a bamboo forest, giant elephants and other animals including zebras, lions and deer.

In total, 30 tonnes of steel has been used to build the frames for the illuminated structures.

A team of 100 highly skilled craftsmen from the village of Zigong in China’s Sichuan province have spent six months creating the structures, which will remain at Longleat from November 14 until the New Year.

Written records of lantern festivals in China date back 2,000 years, and Zigong is considered to be their spiritual home.

Bob Montgomery, Longleat’s chief executive, said: “The Festival of Light is something truly unique.

“We are taking the age old tradition of the Chinese lantern and completely transforming it for a modern audience using giant LED illuminated structures.

“There will be around 20 different scenes to explore within 30 acres, featuring literally thousands of individual illuminations, created from a mixture of silk, satin and vinyl.

“Nothing like it has been attempted on this scale before in the UK – it’s about as far away from those familiar lightweight flying lanterns as it is possible to get.”

“Red Sea: Archaeologists Discover Remains of Egyptian Army From the Biblical Exodus “

via “World News Daily Report“

Suez| Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry announced this morning that a team of underwater archaeologists had discovered that remains of a large Egyptian army from the 14th century BC, at the bottom of the Gulf of Suez, 1.5 kilometers offshore from the modern city of Ras Gharib. The team was searching for the remains of ancient ships and artefacts related to Stone Age and Bronze Age trade in the Red Sea area, when they stumbled upon a gigantic mass of human bones darkened by age.

The scientists lead by Professor Abdel Muhammad Gader and associated with Cairo University’s Faculty of Archaeology, have already recovered a total of more than 400 different skeletons, as well as hundreds of weapons and pieces of armor, also the remains of two war chariots, scattered over an area of approximately 200 square meters. They estimate that more than 5000 other bodies could be dispersed over a wider area, suggesting that an army of large size who have perished on the site. . . . .

Update on Xinzheng Burial Ground

They closed off the site before we could see any more of the progress; however, we do know that they have uncovered about 40 tombs so far. There are estimated to be at least 200 more not yet excavated. They have been finding random odds and ends in the graves, including pottery and some gold jewelry. It is believed that this was the burial ground for the village, so it is a mixture of lovely graves and less up-kept ones. At least some date back to the 3rd Century B.C.E., around the late Warring States Kingdom of Han. Right now, the government has closed the area off to students and visitors, and they will be monitoring the progress. Xinzheng is the “Birthplace” of China because Emperor Huangdi was born here. It was the central-point for several dynastic governments, and there is a lot of history here. It will be fascinating to see what they uncover!

Russia Seeks to Protect its Arctic Culture Heritage Sites

“Russia Seeks to Protect its Arctic Culture Heritage Sites”

Via “RIA Novosti”

MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – The authorities of Russia’s Arkhangelsk Region are set to apply to Russia’s Culture Ministry to include the unique objects of Russia’s Arctic culture heritage into the state culture heritage registry for further state protection, the regional Culture Ministry reported.

The initiative has been discussed at a meeting of the commission on the maritime heritage of Russia’s Marine Board within the framework of “For the Glory of the Fleet and the Fatherland” forum.

“There are many places of unique beauty in the Russian North which are of great architectural, historic and spiritual interest. Among them are lighthouses, polar hydrometeostations and a complex of defense constructions in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, a Cross on the Franz Josef Land archipelago commemorating the 1913-1914 polar expedition of Russian Arctic explorer Georgy Sedov and Russia’s first stone bastion – the Novodvinskaya fortress,” said the governor of the region, Igor Orlov. (more…)