Modernista Celebrates Thirteen Years in Beijing

Ana Padilla Fornieles | Nov 25, 2024 11:30 am | Add a comment | 28 reads

There is a certain chapter of Beijing's urban history known as "The Great Brickening". If these words elicit an immediate response in you…congrats, dear reader! You're becoming a bit of an old-timer here. But tell you what: Modernista has been here even longer than that. Already back in 2017 the Beijinger dedicated a feature to 44 Baochao Hutong as "one of the few hutong venues to withstand the onslaught of redevelopment that leveled much of the capital's alleyway restaurant and bar scene throughout 2017." They were actually celebrating their sixth anniversary back then, and this month they're blowing a staggering 13 candles on the cake of Beijing's often transient nightlife. So it only made sense to sit down with Nuria Cimini, my fellow Spaniard and Modernista's manager and co-owner. Spoiler: it takes passion, expertise, hard work and some magic to keep the boat afloat.

¡Hola, Nuria! 13 years in the scene, my goodness—you guys really are a Beijing institution of sorts at this point. A true reference. How does that feel?
You blink and years go by, right? Or at least that's how it feels sometimes. But then, there's so much to contemplate in hindsight, and it is true that Modernista already does have its own history. I am reminded of this when we get visits from our earliest customers, such as this couple in their fifties. One night they just showed up at our door looking for me, and in their hands they had what you could call an heirloom from yesteryears—one of our flyers from August 2013! They'd come back to Beijing on a visit, and they returned to this place that had been instrumental in their life here. I have more than a few stories like that, and they are kind of the wind beneath our wings. We started out as complete newbies, and now we're veterans, with everything that implies, for good and for bad, I suppose.

Intriguing answer. Care to elaborate?
So the seed for Modernista sprouted right around the summer of 2011, lovingly planted by a group of international friends—Aida (Kirgizstan), Damon (Hong Kong), an Italian named Fabio and yours truly. Back then we actually ran a vintage shop in Beiluoguxiang, which made us neighbors to this guy running a café. The caveat was that he didn't have a clue about it, so we gave him advice every now and then. Not that we knew any better ourselves, mind you; but we did start thinking, "what if we got our own space?"

A bunch of foolish dreamers we were indeed. Little did we know that we were embarking on this endeavor that surpassed any of our expectations, perhaps because we didn't even really know what to expect. What I can tell you, is that the first five years of Modernista were some of the craziest in our lives. We were surrounded by people who were like luminaries on our path, a constant whirlwind of creativity, as well as the source of some of my lifelong friends. We all knew each other, and we were all doing everything upside down, and nobody cared. Don't get me wrong, Modernista was conceived as a business from the start. But we truly were a group of friends experimenting.

Surely you see where I am going. Nowadays, with thirteen years under our belt and following many changes and transformations, it's a different story. Beijing has changed a great deal, much like we have. In some aspects, we may no longer look at everything with starry eyes, but then we can rely on our experience up to this point…or vice-versa.

So in the summer of 2011, you guys decide to open a bar, and then what?
…And then we went on a European holiday. And good thing we did, because our summer in Europe proved very useful in coming up with ideas and inspiration for this new endeavor. The name "Modernista" actually came to me as I sipped on a drink on this terrace in Madrid, and if you want me to be honest, I binned it right away. I feared it would come across as too pretentious a choice. But we did end up sticking to it, and looking back it really does embody the style that we wanted to replicate in our tiny bar in Beijing. I am from Barcelona and back then I really missed the vibes from my hometown bars. I really did want to have this European style bar in town, and here it's worth mentioning that generally we just didn't have that much of a choice in Beijing at that time. Temple wasn't even there just yet. Everyone just kind of went to Salud, which we also kept on our inspiration board. Still, we wanted to do our own thing and bring this European bar culture to Beijing.

I think that's what really set us apart and put us on the right track back then; seems to me that people were also craving that. And so we started our journey in September 2011.

Golden years! What kind of clientele did you have back then?
Suffice it to say, Modernista is and will always be open to everyone. But it's true that in the beginning our patrons mostly hailed from that Gulou foreigner crowd that was having a moment of sorts. Freelancers, creatives, a bit of an assorted bag. And we didn't have WeChat just yet. People just marched out of their houses and kind of knew that they'd find their friends around at the right spots.

I came back to Beijing right before The Great Brickening myself, and get what you mean. You did indeed get a revolving door of people as the times changed, and how did Modernista evolve?
Funny that you should mention The Great Brickening. Initially, we were a one floor only kind of deal, except when we got popular enough we had to add a second floor so that people could actually fit. In the spring of 2015 Modernista evolved to its almost definitive layout, but then in 2017, this wave of urban transformation did indeed hit the old quarters of Beijing.

Baochao Hutong was actually among the first streets to be hit by the brickening patrols. I like to say that we were unwillingly transformed into this sort of real speakeasy: we had to do away with our door sign, and hid the main space behind the façade of a quiet café. Patrons could only access that main space through the second-floor door. Easy times they were not, but we persevered, and in any case, the following years would also have their challenges. For the time being, we just kept flourishing with all sorts of events.

The more we talk, the more I truly do feel that indeed this was a vital experience, an experiment that went beyond the mere business for you and your team…
Yeah, that's exactly what it was for us. Modernista was this playground where we shed our older selves, the jobs that we had been holding up to that point just for the bills. Modernista was a take on self-realization and our opportunity as young adults to gain our wings. I am a sociologist and sinologist in terms of my academic background, and at the end of the day, I would say that I've learned the most about China in my 18 years here through my experience running Modernista. When we opened our doors for the first time, we were completely out of our element, and the lessons we acquired along the way are really precious to me in that sense.

In fact, change also involved having to say goodbye to some members of the OG team…
Yes! I suppose it's inevitable. Fabio was the first to go his own way, and then Aida got married and subsequently migrated to the United States. Her leaving was hard for me, because our time together at Modernista really made it so that we'll always have this very special connection. We were here, manning this ship in Beijing, which is already unique enough as a backdrop to life and kind of a bubble, if you think about it.

Nowadays Damon and I are obviously still here, and then at some point, Matthieu luckily joined us. He made it into the picture at the same time that another former partner of ours, Huangshan, did, though sadly she had to leave due to personal reasons. We each bring our strengths to the team, and I think by now the business does run on these well-greased foundations, even if naturally we still continue to face a series of challenges.

Can you tell us more about the division of tasks? I am intrigued to know who's behind those beautiful posters and flyers…
Oh, those I mostly tackle myself these days! Inspiration came from a friend of ours working in illustration and graphic design. He suggested we browse the Internet for this kind of vintage aesthetic, free of copyright of course, and then we could twist them some to fit our needs and purposes for the flyers and whatnot.

Which, speaking of the flyers, this kind of ties into my other task, since I usually am in charge of programming the monthly agenda. Flyers from years ago are surprising to me in that I look at them and they don't pack nearly as many events as we do nowadays. Obviously, things got quieter during the Covid years, when we had to rely on those who did stay put during the pandemic.

But even then, it's clear to me that we've placed a bet for quality and volume, without really ever dropping the ball in terms of variety. We also try to be selective for any new staff, we've chosen to mostly focus on our drinks menu. At this point, we're lucky to count upon so many wonderful contacts that we've cultivated throughout the years. I started out simply going to wherever I could listen to cool bands and sourcing talents, but nowadays that's not necessarily the case. Sometimes, newcomers to the scene come to us, or perhaps a good friend will send someone cool our way, and then we choose what works best for us and make sure that it's also a great deal for those who indeed make our agenda happen. For starters, not everything fits every day of the week. Sometimes the audience calls for a band that will perhaps offer more covers of famous songs. Sometimes, though, you're going to want to have original music onstage. Fun fact on original music, by the way: nowadays it accounts for about one-third of our weekend programming. This is a trend that I started observing during the Covid times.

Anything to highlight for this anniversary month?
Now that you mention it, this month we've had so far our Songwriter Series, featuring some of our OG musicians who have been with us since the very beginning. Think acoustic, again with a focus on original music, not really an open mic, more like a deliberate showcase of music to a discerning audience.

So, write these all down for your agenda on the last week of the month! Tomorrow (Nov 26), precisely under the Songwriter Series umbrella, we'll have Peter O and Eric Allen. Wednesday, Nov 27 will go to the Chinese rock band Tulegur (图利古尔), fusing Mongolian folk traditions with contemporary music elements, a legend of the Beijing stage if I may add. Thursday, Nov 28 is for some novelty with a brand new flamenco outfit called Loco Flamenco, while Friday, Nov 29 will have Tea onstage with her pop covers. Tired yet? You better stay on with us, because on Saturday, Nov 30, it'll be our grand finale to this month of celebrations with The Harridans and Spirit Rebellious: both original music, both back to back.

We really do try our best to cultivate these bonds with our performers, because it's only right, also because music is kind of a pillar for Modernista as part of the experience that we offer to our patrons. I think part of our success is that we continue to be this space where people meet and things happen and then they tell you things like, "I proposed to my partner at your bar". We also have the pleasure of welcoming old timers onto the stage regularly, and moments like these truly help us make sense of everything and become our real chance to learn through direct experience. I remember this Brazilian musician who taught me to fix sound stuff for our bands, where otherwise I'd have been so lost. Stuff like that.

Business continues to be tricky in the post-Covid years. How did Modernista fare?
Well, luckily we see that people are returning and we have projects, outfits and possibilities trickling back into our scene. But it's certainly true that the last couple of years proved very challenging for entrepreneurs. Since we were already established, we did manage to stay afloat at all times, but you can indeed tell that people's pockets just aren't so deep as they may have been in the past. Covid was also partially behind our decision to put Drink & Draw on hiatus, so that we can hopefully have it back in a refreshed format. We'll have more on that soon.

Speaking of hopes, what do you think is in store for Modernista in the near future?
I try to avoid playing crystal ball, if I must be honest. We're definitely optimistic as we see things gradually returning to normal, and we plan to be on the map for as long as we can. We don't want to be too self-complacent, we want to seek new experiences. After Covid, we kind of did remember that the world is wide and diverse. That's all I'll say for now!