UCCA Faces Uncertain Future as Ullens Pull Out

Two weeks ago, we reported a lone tweet citing that the millionaire Ullens were pulling out of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. Over the weekend, the Art Newspaper’s Cristina Ruiz published an interview with Guy Ullens confirming he was handing off the not-for-profit gallery, currently the biggest institution in Beijing’s most famous art zone.

According to the Art Newspaper article, "Belgian foodstuffs baron Guy Ullens is to hand over the management of his contemporary art gallery in Beijing to “long-term partners” and divest himself of the institution."

The article also gives a brief account of the UCCA’s ups and downs, including its shaky first six months, criticism of its mostly European management, and its partnership with the Minsheng Art Museum now pronounced “dead.”

Apparently, Ullens is now really into Indian art, which makes him sound a bit of a flighty teenager, if you ask me.

Earlier in the week, the art world was already abuzz with the news that the Ullens were planning to sell 106 articles of their collection at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. This raised flags about the future of the UCCA, but until the Art Newspaper interview, nothing was confirmed by the Ullens or UCCA.

When contacted for comment, staff at UCCA offered an official statement high on visionary grandeur but low on details.

The statement addressed the Sotheby’s auction, but not the handover, stating unconvincingly that the two events are unrelated. It also claimed, among other things, "Mr. Ullens' intention was always to create an art center that would be the "crowning jewel" of contemporary Chinese art and would eventually evolve into a fully Chinese-managed organization. Over the years, UCCA has made great progress in this direction, taking positive steps to establish a healthy and sustainable operating model; by 2009, all of the major department heads were qualified Chinese experts. Today, the process of setting up a board of trustees was already in motion."

The statement also reaffirmed that, "In the coming years, UCCA will continue to develop, evolve and achieve. UCCA remains committed to bringing the public the highest-quality exhibitions of Chinese and global contemporary art."

While “crowning jewel” might be a bit self-congratulatory (and the claim of always wanting a fully Chinese-managed organization is a bit disingenuous), it bears acknowledging that the UCCA's presence has been a supreme vote of confidence for the maturation of Beijing’s art scene. Its dedication to presenting a steady flow of exhibits, and to building bilingual programming targeted at all types of audiences - serious art lovers, film buffs, and even children and young adults - demonstrates earnest investment in the future of China's artists and art market.

Yet despite the upbeat tone of the gallery's official statement, the longer-term future of the UCCA - even down to the institution's name - remains uncertain at this point.

More news as it comes.