Week In Review: March 28-April 1

Jing Daily’s Top Posts for the Week In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of March 28-April 1: ArtTactic’s New Chinese Contemporary Art Survey: China World’s “Most Confident” Art Market ArtTactic’s newest survey of the Chinese contemporary art market reflects what many in the art world have suspected over the past six months: the confidence of Chinese collectors in contemporary art has now made China the “most confident” art market in the world. According to ArtTactic’s overall Chinese Contemporary Art Market Confidence Indicator, confidence rose 12 percent since September 2010, with the Chinese Contemporary Primary Market Confidence Indicator rising a full 28 percent in the same amount of time. This, according to ArtTactic, has seen China surpass the American, European and Indian art markets to become the world’s top market in terms of Market Confidence. Currently, ArtTactic places China 21 percent above the US & European market Confidence Indicator, and 34 percent above the Indian Confidence Indicator. Jing Book Review: “The Scramble For China: Foreign Devils In The Qing Empire, 1832-1914″ “Charting a century of Sino-foreign interaction, confrontation and confusion,” The Scramble For China: Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire, 1832-1914 by Robert Bickers (Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai) takes readers on a journey deep into China’s “century of humiliation,” a time when decadent Manchu officials, unscrupulous capitalists, globetrotting imperial powers, would-be messiahs and revolutionaries came together, clashed incessantly, and nearly tore China apart. Beginning with the British literally breaking down the doors to a closed China, as Hugh Hamilton Lindsay of the East India Company forces his way into the offices of Shanghai Daotai in 1832, Robert Bickers traces the the tumultuous, contentious relationship between Qing China and its “unwelcome guests,” a path that ultimately led to two devastating Opium Wars, costly and bloody rebellions, millions of lives lost, and left the door to China open for invasion by the Russians and Japanese. Is Diane Von Furstenberg Overextending in China? Her name may be a tongue-twister in Chinese — Dài’ān Féngfúsītīngbǎo (黛安·冯芙丝汀宝) — but that hasn’t slowed Diane Von Furstenberg’s all-out effort to become a household name in China. Earlier this year, Von Furstenberg announced that she plans to expand her DVF line beyond the two stores currently operating in Beijing and Shanghai to more top-tier locations, and hopes to spread the word about her brand, well established in the West but nearly unheard of in China but for the country’s most fashion-savvy, via high-profile events that tap China’s contemporary art scene and the star power of Chinese celebrities. Considering Von Furstenberg’s friendship with folks like Wendi Deng, media queen Hong Huang, photographer Hai Bo and conceptual artist Zhang Huan, there’s no reason to discount Von Furstenberg’s ability to make a scene. Though Von Furstenberg’s possibly tongue-in-cheek goal in China is to “sell every Chinese a t-shirt,” first she’s going to throw a couple of parties, the first being her “Red Ball” in Shanghai, and the second being the much-anticipated “Journey of a Dress” exhibition in Beijing. Hainan Island Set To Launch Tax-Exempt Luxury Shopping: Can It Compete With Hong Kong? Jing Daily has previously written about the Chinese government’s plan to turn China’s southernmost province, Hainan island, into a high-end international resort destination. While Beijing announced this plan to great fanfare nearly two years ago, setting off fears of a property bubble in Hainan and stoking unease in neighboring countries like Vietnam (which question China’s intentions in disputed waters), Hainan hasn’t really been in the news much lately, though not by lack of trying. To stoke up more interest in Hainan tourism in the run-up to the summer season, the provincial government has sought to associate the island with luxury, welcoming events like the Hainan Rendez-Vous (April 1-4) and creating the “Sunshine Awards” to entice Chinese creatives to help promote Hainan tourism. However, tourism is a cut-throat business, and Hainan lacks a couple of features common to nearby competitors like Macau and Hong Kong, namely, the casinos that populate the former and the duty-free luxury shopping that makes the latter a Mecca for mainland Chinese shoppers. Author Han Han Personalizes Hublot Watch For Charity Auction Han Han, literary voice of China’s “post-80s” generation and occasional Formula 1 racer, has personalized a limited-edition Hublot F1 watch for a charity auction to benefit actor (and Hublot brand ambassador) Jet Li’s One Foundation, a partnership with the Red Cross Society of China. Taking place on Taobao from now until April 12, the online auction features a one-off limited-edition Hublot F1 inscribed with Han Han’s signature and the words “For Freedom” on the back plate. Those interested in taking part are required to put down a refundable 500 yuan deposit, and bids must be at least 1000 yuan over the current winning bid. (Which currently sits at 100,000 yuan, or US$15,300.)

Week In Review: March 28-April 1

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Published April 01, 2011

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Week In Review: March 28-April 1