Get Into Beijing's Local Art Scene at Nugget's Indie Arts Fair, Jan 23

Vincent R. Vinci, Contributing Editor | Jan 19, 2022 9:31 am | Add a comment | 366 reads

The arts scene of a city often reflects the nature of what life is truly like there – and Beijing is no exception, offering up work by artists that’s oftentimes raw, personal, and uncensored, but which still manages to cater to a variety of aesthetic and personal tastes.

And there’s no better place to experience the scene than at nugget’s Indie Arts Market, taking place in the hutongs near Andingmen this Sunday.

Their first market of the year will feature a selection of Beijing-based creatives, touting everything from artwork and comics to zines and more. There will even be a tattoo artist on hand to provide some art you can take with you wherever you go.

To find out more about the market, we spoke with nugget co-founder Jen Rao.

Hey Jen! Can you tell us a little about what makes Indie Arts Market so special?
Fostering appreciation for independent arts and DIY culture has always been a philosophy that we’ve found to be important at nugget records. When the label was founded in 2019, the keywords that we wanted to focus on, and I think we’ve managed to stick to this, were “cassettes, illustration & DIY”. Thus, creating space for independent publications and original artwork to be displayed, discussed & purchased is vital for the city’s indie arts scene!

The Indie Arts Market features a selection of some of the most exciting indie creators that Beijing has to offer! Most of the participating artists have been working with their respective mediums for a period of time now but undoubtedly will have new work to debut! There will be a diverse group of artists selling their wares including those specializing in comics, collage, tattoos, illustration, block print and 3D printing! You’ll be able to get your hands on original artwork, prints, zines, jewelry, totes, hand-bound notebooks, and more! You may even walk away with an original tattoo if you so desire! So come join us at the first art market of 2022, get inspired and support your local artists and businesses!

Is this the first iteration of an event like this? How long has nugget been running these?
nugget records has been attending art markets since we were founded in 2019 (this was before nugget café even existed) after all one half of the founders is a visual artist! When we released our first cassettes, it was accompanied with the release of volume 1 of our self-titled zine, which contained interviews with the bands, reviews of our releases and tapes we were listening to, illustrations and even a recipe! The first market we took part in was a zine fair organized by Shui of Hole in the Wall Collective in 2019. When nugget (the café/bar/live house/studio) opened its doors in 2020, we knew we wanted to host small markets that focused on zines and other mediums that allowed uncensored and personal expression. Last year we organized a handful of markets, most notably for Record Store Day and Cassette Store Day.

Of the artists involved, are there any first timers or notable folks taking part?
N-SOMA will be debuting his range of 3D printed jewelry, toys and objects at the Indie Arts Market. Fei Fei of FEIsLINOCUT has been a major player in the scene for years now, however, her focus on block printed cards & fabrics is a relatively new direction. For comic book artist, Krish Raghav, this may be the last market he will attend in Beijing for a while so come catch him while you still can! Potentially the most exciting for some people is the pop-up tattoo station by tattoo artist and “visual alchemist” Dongbay東北 whose personal style is distinct and bold. We have plenty more in store for you, the only way to find out is to come check it out!