The Shanghai Art Fair, the city’s biggest contemporary art festival for foreign art collectors, is no longer all about the Benjamins. Opening Thursday at the ShanghaiMart, the Shanghai Art Fair has changed its slogan so that the art world doesn’t perceive the event as being only about money. Even though this event, like most art festivals, is all about money. In past years, the tagline of the festival was “Investing in Art.” According to a Shanghai Daily report, this slogan seemed a bit “crass” and materialistic so organizers chose a new subtitle for the event that supposedly deemphasizes the financial focus of the fair. The new slogan is “Collecting Art and Enjoying a Fortune,” which to me, sounds significantly more materialistic than the old one. I would have gone with “Get It While It’s Hot,” but that’s just me. Here is an excerpt from the official event press release regarding the new classy tone to the fair:
The director of Shanghai Art Fair introduces that after ten year’s development, Shanghai Art Fair gradually transfers into a professional focus event from the former public one which concentrates on popularizing art collection. The organizing committee tries every effort to promote the Fair’s level to attract more high class people to join in the Fair.
The Shanghai Art Fair, which began in 1996 as a marginal celebration of Chinese art, has blossomed into an internationally recognized forum for the world’s most promising contemporary art. Around 10,000 pieces will be on display from over 150 galleries in 17 countries. As the fair grows in both space (22,000 square meters this year) and attention (50,000 collecters are expected), the artists on display look to capitalize off the recent string of multi-million-dollar acquisitions of Chinese art. In this scorching hot Chinese art world, a big sale can transform a localized Chinese artist into a globally recognized celebrity overnight. Because no matter what the tagline for the 2007 Shanghai Art Fair is, these events hinge on investor’s interest and money. The Shanghai Arts Fair runs until Monday. Leave your capitalist fervor at home.
Image: Reading 2003-4 by Li Shan/oil on canvas from ShanghART Gallery
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