Gallery Weekend Beijing successfully opened its largest edition to date on 22 March to crowds of art lovers in Beijing. Under the leadership of Director Amber Wang, this year saw 27 galleries and institutions across three of the city’s districts unveil a range of blockbuster exhibitions–a growth of over 20% on last year’s offering.
As a platform that seeks to bundle and share cutting-edge contemporary art in Beijing, Gallery Weekend Beijing is a rare opportunity to see the city’s disparate art districts unite as one and collaborate on events and openings. Continuing the success of previous editions, GWBJ 2019 demonstrates the true variety and depth of the capital’s rich cultural and artistic resources.
This year saw Chief Sponsor Taikang Insurance stage a pop up exhibition in 798 Art Zone across four floors of a heritage office building. A rare opportunity, the show includes 70 artworks from its impressive collection, showcasing the very best of Chinese artists across the 20th and 21st centuries.
This year also saw visiting exhibitors as part of a close collaboration with Zurich Art Weekend, including an exhibition of work by Shara Hughes and Michel Peréz Pollo presented by leading Swiss galleries Eva Presenhuber and Mai 36 respectively.
During the course of the opening weekend, a specially selected group of jurors—that included Art Review’s Mark Rappolt—deliberated over which of the city’s offerings was worthy of being awarded Best Exhibition. The prize was given to Star Gallery for its showcase of Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Liu Heung Shin, a fitting acknowledgement for the first exhibition held in their new 798 location.
The climax of the opening weekend came with a star-studded Gala dinner, which saw the best of the Chinese and international art world gather to celebrate the week’s events.
Gallery Weekend Beijing continues until the 29 March.
