Art Seen: Gallery Weekend Beijing Brings Domestic and International Creators to the Capital, Apr 27-May 2

Although fans of the motion picture arts will have to wait until August for their big celebration, the Beijing International Film Festival, fans of just about every other art form will be kept busy over the next five days as Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ) kicks off today, Apr 27, and runs through May 2. This year marks the fifth iteration of the festival when the capital plays host to domestic and international creators of contemporary art and performance, spread throughout the city’s premier art hub, 798 Art District, and various other venues dotted across town.

This year, Gallery Weekend Beijing will be split into five sectors; The Main Sector, Visiting Sector, Public Sector, and Up & Coming Sector, as well as the I Do sector, a collaboration between Chinese jewelry brand I Do and GWBJ, which includes an I Do Art Exhibition and I Do Charity Art program.

Making up the bulk of the event is the Main Sector, which features 22 commercial galleries, seven non-profit institutions, and one independent art institution including first-time participants Hua International, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum, Espace Louis Vuitton, and Shixiang Space. Meanwhile, the Visiting Sector gives international and domestic galleries an opportunity to not only collaborate on, but also showcase each other’s exhibitions, and will include institutions such as Chengdu-based A Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Balice Hertling out of Paris, New York City/Brussels’ Gladstone Gallery, and more. Of course, it wouldn’t be an art event without an investigation into the role that art plays in our daily lives, thus the Public Sector will “invite audiences to question how notions of the ‘public’ can be redefined and initiates cultural conversations with surrounding public spaces.” (Read: outdoor installations). Lastly, a staple of GWBJ is its Up & Coming Sector, which gives emerging artists a platform to reach a wider audience. This year, the event will coincide with a talk prefacing a group exhibition that will take place during a future event.

In a press release, GWBJ director Amber Yifei Wang explained that “The fifth anniversary of Gallery Weekend Beijing allows us to reflect on all we have achieved over the last five years, while also providing an opportunity to push the boundaries of the platform and keep innovating.”

Gallery Weekend Beijing takes place from Apr 27 to May 2 at various locations all around Beijing. For more information including a full list of participating galleries and institutions, check out the website here, or follow their official WeChat account at gwbjofficial.

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Images courtesy of Gallery Weekend Beijing