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Collecting in Today's Turbulent World

A Dialogue between East and West

9 - 11 October 2009
Beijing, China

In a new departure for ISD's activities, its annual ‘Spencer House' Arts conference was held, not in London, but in Beijing on October 9-11, 2009.  The meeting was organised in partnership with the Beijing Culture and Arts Foundation, and with Reignwood Group which generously acted as host to the conference.

ISD brought a group of 35 international experts from the art world, including museum and gallery directors, curators, administrators, collectors, academics and writers to the ‘Global Collecting Forum' in Beijing where they met with a group of their Chinese counterparts. Together they undertook an in-depth review of global collecting of art, both in the long term and in the immediate context of the economic crisis. The extraordinary advent and precipitate growth of China's contemporary art scene provided a striking backdrop for the debates.

The conference began with a series of closed panel sessions of both Chinese experts and international visitors which were exceptionally lively and productive. It became apparent that the rapid growth of Chinese contemporary art was driven largely by private galleries, auction houses and collectors, in contrast to the more mixed private and public agencies in Europe and USA.

On Day Two, the Chinese partners organised an ‘Open Forum' inviting a large number of professionals from the Chinese art world. The morning session was held at the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, while the afternoon session in the White Box Gallery. Further panel discussions were held, benefitting from the participation of the famous British sculptor, Anthony Gormley, whose one-man show in Beijing opened during the Forum. A number of preconceptions were robustly challenged from the standpoint of both cultures.

The international participants received extraordinarily warm hospitality from their Chinese hosts at exhibition venues and in a variety of social settings.