Art, Luxury Articles Shed Light On Important Current Events From Chinese Point Of View#
In case you missed them the first time around, here are five of Jing Daily's most popular translated articles. Although we like to share our own analysis of current events on a daily basis, sometimes the best way to understand what's really going on in China is to just take a step back and let Chinese-language articles do the talking for themselves.
Chinese Art Critic Li Xianting: Collecting Chinese Contemporary Art Is A Kind Of “Cultural Creation”
"Collection is a kind of cultural creation, and in collecting contemporary art one must face value standards, but value standards in a progressing era are of a very uncertain ideological form, and collectors — through their behavior — have to confirm whether they’re actually qualified to become the builders of value standards in the era in which we live. Every major collector who made an important contribution to art history, such as the Renaissance-era Medici family or the Guggenheims, Ludwig II…the famous American and Italian Guggenheim museums, and Germany’s Ludwig Museum — named after these collectors — because of these people and places collecting artwork, some of these works of art have become critical elements of art history."
Chinese “Young Tycoons” Mad For Luxury Goods#
"Near Harbor City, in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district, one can hear their accents – on the street, in shopping malls, everywhere you go there they are, the shopping-mad mainland luxury buyers. The nickname Hong Kongers have given to mainland visitors — “Hawks” (a transliteration of the literal “luxury shopper”, “hao ke” – JD) — is well founded. For lots of mainland tourists, the places they’re most interested are Hong Kong’s shopping malls, rather than Disneyland. In malls on Guangdong Road, the mainland tourists you see are generally dressed to the nines. Lots of them are decked out from head to toe in well-known international brands — Chanel sunglasses, LV handbags, Gucci shoes…that kind of style, well, it’s enough to make native Hong Kongers who occasionally wear one or two famous brands green with envy."
Interview: Collector Wang Wei – “Our Happiness Lies In Collecting Art”#
I don’t deal with the outside world that much, but I do pay attention to magazines that say China has no collectors. I think China definitely has collectors, but a lot of them aren’t that public about it. I think this exhibition is going to set a new trend, though, and get the ball rolling. I believe that afterwards, people will slowly be willing to collect, and the scene will gradually get better and better.
"When we started planning this exhibition last year, someone said, if Wang Wei’s organizing this exhibition, afterwards she’s going to be ready to sell it. When I heard that I laughed my ass off! But I guess that person had seen lots of foreigners snapping up Chinese contemporary art and selling it for big profits later and taking off, so he was just assuming the same from me. But they’re wrong about me; I won’t sell even one of my “Red Classics.” I used to always say that, and I still say it. Over time the facts speak for themselves. Regarding art collection I have my own dreams, and I think I’ll finally achieve them.
China’s “8 Most Overrated” Brands#
"At high-end shops, do the brands hanging alongside Chanel and Lanvin really count as luxury? Of course no one can regard Gap or MANGO as luxury brands, but when they use celebrities to hawk their goods in ads and advertise them as high-end, some brands punch above their weight. When lots of foreign brands crossed the ocean to come to China, they transformed themselves into 'top' brands even though they were second tier in their own country. Now, I’m going to identify those 'pseudo-big' brands."
“…[Despite Penelope Cruz appearing in MANGO ads,] this can’t change the fact that in Europe MANGO is considered low-priced. When this cheap Spanish brand came to China it was suddenly considered fancy. People here had no idea that if they were on the other side of the ocean, the value of MANGO’s clothes would drop 40-60%…”
Is Investing In Art Equal To Saving For the Future?#
"One thing we should point out is that between Summer 2005 and 2007, Chinese calligraphy and paintings experienced an unprecedented decline in prices, and the high prices that many expected to see coming about simply vanished, as did a lot of short-term speculators who suffered losses. However, the drop in prices that happened at that time had a silver lining: it educated a large number of investors.
"If we take a step back and analyze the reasons for this, it’s not hard to see that there is no shortage of speculators in the art market today, but there is a shortage of art-loving investors. Speculators don’t appreciate the art they collect. They’re just in it for the money — turning a profit is their singular desire. Lots of those people who were 'fishing for profits' in the art world originally came from real estate or stock market backgrounds, and didn’t really understand art, thinking they could dip right in and mix and mingle among art and culture lovers.
"Along with the steady stream of funds into the art market came a rise in the price of works, which led a number of speculators to sell off, which led to the quick drop in prices. Because of what happened, art collectors might ask themselves if it’s even possible for art to bring a return on investment:”Is buying art actually the same as saving for the future?” they may ask. Well, the answer should be, 'Yes.'”
