Topic 1:
In 2017, Gallery Weekend Beijing was jointly initiated by 18 galleries and institutions, along with more than 60 artists, making its debut in the 798 and Caochangdi Art Districts. Although Beijing’s art ecosystem was already highly active at the time, the platform has, over the past decade, established an irreplaceable role within the field. In the first issue this May, we revisit its development through conversations with nine early participants, reflecting on their trajectories while examining the core principles that Gallery Weekend Beijing has upheld.
Q1
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Gallery Weekend Beijing. Looking back, how would you assess the necessity and urgency of its founding? At a time when Beijing’s art ecosystem was already mature and well-established, why was there still a need for a platform like Gallery Weekend Beijing? What role has it played in shaping the development of Beijing’s art ecosystem within a broader national context?
Zheng Lin(Founder of Tang Contemporary Art ):
Driven by the operating body of the 798 Art District, Gallery Weekend Beijing evolved from an early grassroots alliance of galleries into a more structured and organized platform. By aligning its schedule with Beijing Contemporary Art Expo and ART021 Beijing, the city has gradually formed an “art season,” establishing a clear rhythm for collectors to view and acquire works, and significantly boosting market activity.
Tang Xin(Former Director of Taikang Art Museum):
Gallery Weekend Beijing opened up possibilities for the Beijing art market beyond the model of the “art fair,” creating a more profound mode of public engagement and presentation.
Guo Xi（Deputy Director of UCCA Center for Contemporary Art）:
By systematically introducing international galleries, curators, and institutions, Gallery Weekend Beijing has transformed what were once fragmented, cross-regional exchanges into a sustained and integrated framework.
Qu Kejie（Founder of Magician Space）:
As a cultural center,Beijing has long been a hub for artists and institutions, defined by its deep academic and cultural heritage Within this context, Gallery Weekend Beijing emerged, drawing on the model of Berlin Gallery Weekend to reinforce a more academically oriented approach.
Peng Yongyi(Luna) (Beijing Director of Galleria Continua)
Gallery Weekend Beijing organizes and amplifies the energy of existing platforms, forming a clearer mechanism for industry collaboration and external communication.
Q2
Over the past decade, what irreplaceable value has the platform Gallery Weekend Beijing provided for the presentation of artists’ work and the collecting practices of its audiences? Has the conversations it fosters contributed to shaping certain intellectual frameworks or standards for art and collecting?
Zheng Lin(Founder of Tang Contemporary Art ):
Gallery Weekend Beijing has helped cultivate a more professional and mature framework for viewing, as a result of high-quality exhibitions that continuously "educate"collectors.
Tian Yuan(Founder of WHITE SPACE):
Through concentrated exhibition-viewing and intensive dialogue, collecting is no longer limited to “liking,” but naturally expands into questions of “why” and “within what context one collects.”
Xia Jifeng(Founder of Hive Center for Contemporary Art):
Gallery Weekend Beijing applies academic standards in its selection process without intervening in content, establishing baseline expectations and mechanisms for quality while respecting diversity.
Peng Yongyi（Luna) (Beijing Director of Galleria Continua):
Gallery Weekend Beijing transforms short-term events into long-term knowledge accumulation and an enduring ecological foundation by introducing international resources and facilitating circulation.
Q3:
As gallery owners or directors, why do you choose to present your most important exhibitions of the year during Gallery Weekend Beijing? What does this moment represent for you?
Wang Yuhan（Director of PIFO Gallery）:
Participating in Gallery Weekend Beijing is akin to a public submission to the field—it reflects a commitment to artistic judgment, professional rigor, and a sustainable ecosystem.
Xia Jifeng(Founder of Hive Center for Contemporary Art):
At this key moment, we present projects that have been carefully considered from multiple perspectives, leveraging the platform’s concentrated spotlight to amplify both the critical discourse and the visibility of the artists.
Peng Yongyi:(Luna) (Beijing Director of Galleria Continua)
We see it as a “moment of dialogue.” An important exhibition is not only a presentation, but the beginning of a conversation.
Q4:
From its initial positioning of advancing international dialogue through a dual approach of “bringing in” and “going out,” to the later establishment of the “Visiting Sector” to host international galleries, do you think this decade-long commitment to a global perspective has fostered deeper dialogue—one that engages not only local artistic practice but also broader ways of thinking?
Tang Xin:
Gallery Weekend Beijing carries both the vibrancy of a marketplace and the quality of an academic space where one can “pause and breathe.” This coexistence of dual contexts is rare. Its layered and multi-dimensional programming helps preserve the diversity of the 798 ecosystem—allowing the "avant-garde" to remain "avant-garde", the academic to remain academic, and the public to remain grounded in everyday life—transforming 798 during Gallery Weekend into an art community where different forms can coexist and thrive with ease.
Guo Xi:
There has been a marked increase in visits from international media and institutions. Through this platform, UCCA’s exhibitions in the first half of each year—regardless of scale—can be viewed and understood by international media within a relatively concentrated timeframe. This has expanded the institution’s collaborative horizons and enriched its regional connections, while opening up more space for discussions around the ontology and methodologies of art, rather than merely following what is most visible or topical at the moment.
Tian Yuan:
Gallery Weekend Beijing creates a space for exchange among participants on an equal footing, centered on shared concerns across different contexts, rather than one-directional output. At the same time, it has prompted us to more deeply articulate and reflect on the specificity of our own practices.
René Meile(Co-owner of Galerie Urs Meile):
As a “navigator,” Gallery Weekend Beijing lowers the threshold for public engagement while enhancing the visibility and accessibility of exhibitions.
Wang Yuhan:
Gallery Weekend Beijing activates local subjectivity through dialogue—positioning oneself within a global framework, rather than responding through imitation or opposition.
Q5:
Over the past decade, Gallery Weekend Beijing has continuously responded to changing conditions through its own processes of growth and iteration. By shifting the participation model from open application to an invitation-based system, and moving from free participation toward curatorial and academic selection, these adjustments convey certain underlying messages.What changes have you observed in Gallery Weekend Beijing over the past ten years? And can we discern a set of evolving value criteria through them?
Peng Yongyi:
Diversity itself is a vital source of ecological vitality; the key lies in finding more flexible ways to navigate between “selection” and “inclusivity.”
René Meile:
It is a natural response to an already rich art ecosystem that now requires curatorial structuring at the platform level—distilling the most relevant elements from within it.
Xia Jifeng:
It signals that the organizing committee has established its own level of academic rigor and standards.
Tian Yuan:
It feels like a clarification of responsibility. An invitation-based system means the platform is no longer simply a sort of “open day", but a narrator with a position and a point of view. It reinforces the value of academic judgment and makes participating galleries more aware that the exhibitions they present are collectively constructing a narrative of the present.
Zheng Lin:
From an operational standpoint, given constraints of cost and resources, the invitation list inevitably becomes more targeted—while further strengthening the platform’s ability to attract and concentrate collectors and industry participants.
Q6:
Over the past decade of Gallery Weekend Beijing, the composition of collectors and their level of professional understanding have also evolved. Do you think these changes, in turn, have influenced galleries’ strategic directions and the ways in which artists are represented? How do these relationships interact and evolve in tandem?
Peng Yongyi:
Collectors have become increasingly professionalized and internationally oriented. This shift is not a passive adjustment, but a reciprocal process. While galleries remain committed to their own directions, they also, often subtly, contribute to the cultivation of the market. This is a long-term process and a building of trust.
Qu Kejie:
As collectors become more engaged and informed, their exchanges with galleries continue to deepen, forming a co-creative ecological relationship.
René Meile:
We are seeing more of the younger generation entering this field, allowing for a natural dialogue across generations within a shared space
Q7:
At a moment when the retreat of globalization and the reawakening of local consciousness are unfolding in parallel, how do you think the meaning of “internationality” has shifted compared to a decade ago?
Peng Yongyi:
The local and the international are not in opposition, but mutually constitutive. Artists rooted in local contexts often produce expressions that are distinct, authentic, and complex. It is precisely the sustained engagement with this internal tension that gives cross-cultural dialogue its meaning.
Wang Yuhan:
Internationality has shifted from alignment and visibility toward equal dialogue and the articulation of local subjectivity. It is no longer measured against Western standards, but instead participates in global discourse through one’s own inquiries and language, forming a two-way circulation.
René Meile:
The essence of international exchange has not changed, it continues to provide space for the development of local consciousness, while the need for engagement with external perspectives and difference remains constant.
Tian Yuan:
Internationality has moved from being connected and made visible to becoming a form of dialogue grounded in subjectivity. Local experience is no longer an object to be viewed, but the starting point for critical inquiry.
Q8:
Within the academic atmosphere cultivated by Gallery Weekend Beijing, have you, as participating galleries, also grown alongside it and gained new momentum? More specifically, over the past decade, has Gallery Weekend Beijing brought about meaningful changes to your exhibitions, including the professional trajectories of younger artists?
Peng Yongyi:
Within a relatively stable academic and discursive environment, galleries are better able to sustain and advance significant projects. Through its periodic moments of focus, Gallery Weekend Beijing allows exhibitions to be more widely seen, compared, and discussed, enabling artists to enter multidimensional evaluative frameworks at an earlier stage.
René Meile:
Art requires both physical and mental space, and Gallery Weekend Beijing is crucial in creating and sustaining such spaces and their ecosystems. At the same time, what is presented during this week is always built upon year-round work—the two are interdependent.
Guo Xi:
“Internationality” is no longer synonymous with a guarantee of quality; it now calls for a more discerning curatorial logic. As the global art landscape becomes increasingly plural, the importance of local practices is being reasserted. Within a more open and complex context, these practices, together with cross-cultural experiences, form new perspectives for observation.
Topic 2
Over the ten-year development of Gallery Weekend Beijing, the “Visiting Sector” has emerged as a distinctive model. Since its establishment in 2019, participating galleries from China and abroad have utilized the non-traditional exhibition space of Building A07 in the 798 Art District to present high-quality, gallery-specific projects within a two-week timeframe. Its defining characteristic lies in its grounding in a unique architectural setting and its occurrence within a concentrated annual time window. What it conveys is not only the positions of galleries and the artistic qualities of the works, but also a site-conditioned narrative of how art is viewed and understood. Participating galleries widely regard this sector as a “third model” between the art fair and the gallery exhibition—one that provides the conditions for realizing exhibitions within a physical space, while, through temporal compression, generating a distinct viewing experience and a sense of community.
In your view, what fundamentally distinguishes the “Visiting Sector” of Gallery Weekend Beijing from conventional art fairs or long-term gallery exhibitions? Over the years, what kind of shared understanding has this sector brought to the field? When exhibitions are compressed into a two-week timeframe, how do you make use of this sense of “temporality” to construct a more experimental exhibition narrative beyond a purely sales-driven logic? Do you intentionally challenge conventional modes of display, allowing the exhibition itself to function as an autonomous work?
Mathew Berleczewski:
BANK has participated in the “Visiting Sector” for three consecutive years, consistently centering on highly dialogical dual solo exhibitions. We regard it as a complete curatorial and experimental platform rather than a conventional fair. Through different projects, the gallery continues to explore the balance between curatorial logic and commercial considerations.
Huang Yaji:
Although the concentrated professional audience and market efficiency of art fairs are especially important for us coming from Taipei, as they allow artists to directly engage with key international audiences, the works are often detached from their original context, gradually giving rise to a kind of “fair aesthetic” shaped by short-term display and social circulation.
Thus, the value of “Visiting Sector” is that it creates a space between the art fair and the gallery exhibition, allowing galleries, within a highly concentrated and competitive environment, to reassert the independence of the artist.
Jia Mingyu:
The “Visiting Sector” is closer to a gallery exhibition. As suggested by the word “visiting,” it concerns guests from afar—artists from outside the local context. In terms of presentation, it is more focused than a fair, akin to a small-scale gallery exhibition. The two-week duration allows viewing, perception, and dialogue to unfold at a more measured and comfortable pace.
He Yanxi:
The fundamental difference lies in its combination of spatial and temporal mechanisms. It operates within a specific architectural space—rather than temporary booths—and unfolds within a concentrated, once-a-year time frame. Compared to the standardized booth structures and efficiency-driven viewing rhythm of art fairs, each project in the “Visiting Sector” enjoys greater spatial autonomy and can therefore engage more directly with the architecture itself. This shifts the viewing experience from rapid consumption toward a slower, more contemplative mode of reading.
Beijing’s art ecosystem is marked by a unique historical depth, an academic lineage, and the accumulated tensions within local contemporary practice. When selecting artists for the “Visiting Sector,” do you intentionally seek artistic languages that can generate real friction or subtle dialogue with the Beijing context? How do you assess whether an artist’s thinking and methodology hold the potential to be “reinterpreted” in this setting?
Wang Wan:
Rather than focusing on whether an artist’s work directly aligns with the local context, we are often more interested in whether it holds the potential to be reinterpreted and re-discussed. Presenting different artists becomes a process of discovering which practices can be absorbed into the local ecosystem and generate new dialogues—often in ways that diverge from our initial expectations.
Huang Yaji:
In selecting artists, we pay particular attention to practices that engage with “Eastern sensibilities” as an internal condition, producing subtle shifts and renewed dialogue within the Beijing context.
Cai Bingqiao:
Ultimately, the key lies in openness: whether the artist’s methods can be translated into the local context, and whether they can provoke discussions about the present. When a work can activate dialogue around contemporary realities or cultural psychology, it gains the potential to be reinterpreted and newly situated.
Jia Mingyu:
We are not overly concerned with the potential for “reinterpretation.” As we often say, one should not underestimate the audience’s capacity for understanding. Whether the artist is already known locally or not, the encounter can feel like either a reunion or a chance meeting—and I look forward to how audiences respond.
He Yanxi:
We tend to see this sector as an opportunity to introduce artists who have not yet been fully understood, but who contain latent connections with the Beijing context.
The architectural quality as a rejection of a "white cube" of Building A07 in the 798 Art District inevitably place higher demands on site-specific exhibition-making. Within a two-week execution period, how do you extract relevant cues from an artist’s practice to engage with this space? Does the final presentation adapt to the site, or does it intentionally introduce moments of dislocation or intervention? How do you calibrate spatial narrative, circulation, and the relationship between works?
Mathew Berleczewski:
For this exhibition we imagined a workshop-like environment, directly inspired by the raw materiality of the building itself. In that sense, the exhibition was tailored specifically to the space.
Wang Wan:
The space responds to and informs our decisions. For instance, in our exhibition with Mimosa Echard, an exposed electrical box—originally intended to be concealed—was ultimately left visible. Its raw, “unrestored” condition unexpectedly interacted with the works, and audiences responded very positively.
Huang Yaji:
Spaces like Building A07, with their defined rhythm and architectural character, are in fact conducive to exhibition-making. They already establish a mode of entry for viewing, making it easier for audiences to form relationships with the works.
Cai Bingqiao:
We aim to balance preservation and intervention, creating a tension in which viewers experience both the transformative intervention of art and a temporary dislocation of time and space, allowing more nuanced ideas to be situated within the site.
He Yanxi:
Our familiarity with the building gives us an intuitive understanding of its structure and atmosphere. Many curatorial decisions originate from this intuition. The curatorial process then works to articulate and amplify this intuition into perceptible spatial cues.
Timothy Taylor:
A building like A07 demands a more holistic approach. Its architecture is not neutral, so the key lies in how the works “calibrate” themselves in relation to it, rather than simply occupying it. We neither fully adapt to the space nor deliberately oppose it—it is ultimately a matter of calibration.
Based on your experience, how have Beijing collectors responded to these “condensed yet highly concentrated” exhibitions? Do you hope they take away not only aesthetic or market-oriented impressions, but also a deeper readability—an understanding of artistic methodologies, internal logic, and even unfinished lines of thought? Does this exhibition format foster a more lasting resonance between collectors and artists, grounded not in stylistic labels but in sustained engagement with artistic processes?
Mathew Berleczewski:
Late May in Beijing can feel like an overwhelming influx of information for the art world. Many top collectors are present, supporting a wide range of events. Yet within this intensity, those who visit Gallery Weekend Beijing are often seeking a more independent and complete viewing experience—one that moves beyond the quick browsing and toward a more immersive engagement with ideas, artistic practice, and exhibition-making.
Huang Yaji:
The collectors drawn to the “Visiting Sector” tend to have strong discernment and refined taste, enabling deeper and more sustained relationships of trust between galleries and collectors. The market benefits from multiple temporalities; what matters is that each format conveys information that is both accurate and authentic.
Cai Bingqiao:
We hope collectors leave not just with a work or an experience, but with ongoing lines of thought shared through in-depth dialogue. This format fosters more enduring trust—when collectors recognize that they are supporting a complex system of thinking, a total investment of the artist’s expression, the connection becomes more stable and generative than one based solely on aesthetic preference.
He Yanxi:
We do not see solo exhibitions as one-time transmissions of information, but as starting points for dialogue. Through a gradual process of viewing, they establish longer-term cognitive relationships with audiences, shifting attention from style toward method.
Timothy Taylor:
In our experience, the “Visiting Sector” encourages focus and engagement; in some ways, the brevity of the exhibition period produces a more distilled and concentrated experience.
