Photo essay: China Residencies’ 2019 cross-country tour of arts spaces
Ahead of its sixth Crystal Ruth Bell Residency program (apply now – it’s fully funded!), the team at China Residencies took a cross-country tour around China to visit art and culture spaces new and old. Below we’re featuring photo highlights from this strip, which have been culled (with permission) from their lovely Instagram account.
1. Chengdu 成都
“Almost Four 肆空间… [an] almost four square meters of open storefront in a residential neighborhood, started by three artists Zheng Kefu 正科夫 & Zhang Zhongtao 张钟萄 & Ma Tun 马锟… They host one art project at a time (currently by Fabian Hammer, from Hamburg), have a tiny coffee shop too to help pay for things, and work with their neighbors through their project, Company Art, to create installations in neighboring businesses to help boost business and foot traffic.”
2. Changsha 长沙
“We visited the recently opened artist residency P8, which is located on the grounds of the Broad company 远大集团 on the outskirts of Changsha. The residents live on two floors, sharing the building with other small sustainable businesses from Changsha.”
3. Xiamen 厦门
“Xiamen is an island, so you’re never too far from the water. Though it’s a booming second tier city, traditional techniques and beach-side fishing co-exist side by side with high-tech infrastructure. Some people sail for leisure while others float on makeshift rafts to collect fresh mussels and oysters from the docks.”
And a beautiful selfie wall at the Shapowei Art Zone:
4. Jiangxi 江西
Lucitopia 鹿栖小镇: a new residency focused on design, new media art, and sustainability in the province’s national forest, “led locally by the amazing mast Wu who knows every person and tree in the neighboring seven villages and can make nearly anything out of bamboo🎍 Also, he lost a finger to a poisonous snake bite, but got revenge by killing the snake and turning it into snake wine 😳”.
4. Jinxi 锦溪
“Halfway between Shanghai and Suzhou in a water town in Jiangsu province, Points (几点) has space to host four residents at a time in modern renovations inside ancient structures”:
5. Shanghai 上海
IB Print Club/IdleBeats爱豆笔此 run by Nini_Sum: “They teach silkscreen and riso workshops, make posters for all kinds of creative happenings, and collaborate with independent artists and musicians”:
6. Shenyang 沈阳
The Ailleurs Residency residency studio and exhibition space， which are housed in the former headquarters of the 1920s British American Tobacco Company (Empereur Félix 1er at work in the back):
7. Songjiang 松江
Songjiang, “where artists are working and living in large-size studios outside the city of Shanghai”: pictured below is the studio of sculptor turned visual artist Wang Banyu.
8. Guangzhou 广州
“黄边站 or HB Station has its name derived from the Metro station it is located at and is an independent art space as well as an artist residency.”
9. Dongguan 东莞
“石米空间, or shekmai space in Cantonese, is run by artist Li Jinghu and echo, and has its name derived from the traditional stone facade of the building from the 80s. Mostly Chinese artists stay for a relatively short time (2 weeks) at the residency and work, research and explore the different parts of Dongguan.”
More information about China Residencies’ 6th Crystal Ruth Bell Residency – apply soon as applications are due August 8th!