From International Herald Tribune:
First, Western art galleries turned east, moving into China to cash in on its booming contemporary art scene. Now, Chinese galleries are trekking west.
Seven Chinese galleries participated in the main fair of Art Basel and in its satellite events this year, showing some of the most spectacular works in Art Unlimited, the exhibition platform for large-scale projects, video installations and live performances aimed at the institutional art market.
The Boers-Li Gallery in Beijing, a first-timer at the fair, showed Qiu Anxiong’s “Staring Into Amnesia” (2007), an authentic 1960s Chinese train car inside which black-and-white war footage was projected onto the windows.
“My work is not about ideology. It is about reviving the memory of China,” Qiu said.
There were also works by a three-man collective, Yangjiang Group, presented by Vitamin Creative Space of Guangzhou, China, which were shown in both the Art Unlimited section and Art Statements, a section featuring emerging artists working with rising galleries.
