"2021 Art Shenzhen" is hosted by the Organizing Committee Office of China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Expo and Shenzhen Press Group, and organized by China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair Co., Ltd. and Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee. At present, all the organizational work has been started, and application for opening galleries, carrying out public projects and other projects is scheduled to begin in late February. The hosts and organizers of Art Shenzhen attach great importance to project planning and future development, and uphold the spirit of "holding an exhibition open to all”. Recently, the Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee held the Consultation Meeting of 2021 Art Shenzhen.
Forge ahead and blaze new trails
On the afternoon of January 29, 2021, to make contemporary art fairs more diversified and seek new directions for the development of the project, the Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee invited professionals from all walks of life to hold the "Consultation Meeting of 2021 Art Shenzhen" in Shenzhen to solicit suggestions from the professionals. The meeting was presided over by Dong Haitao, executive deputy general manager of China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair Co., Ltd., and attended by Ye Jianqiang, member of Shenzhen Press Group Management Committee, vice chairman and general manager of China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair Co., Ltd., and secretary general of Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee. The guests of the meeting included representatives of collectors in Shenzhen like Zhang Hongyi, founder of Fanya Culture; Du Jie, sponsoring director of Times Museum; and Long Haijun, an investor; representatives of well-known artists like Liang Quan and Xue Feng; representatives of senior curators and curators of art museum like Luan Qian, vice chairman of Shenzhen Design and Art Alliance; Liu Xiaodu, curator of Pingshan Art Museum; representatives of galleries and art institutions like Deng Binbin, founder of Mangrove Gallery; Xu Wen, founder of KennaXu Gallery; Yang Lin, founder of Shenzhen Hall; Huang Zhujian, a representative of Whitestone Gallery (Hong Kong); Wang Yizhu, head of Bamboo Space; Liu Yu, founder of Meicheng Space; Cao Yuanqi and Hu jiwen, founders of Wone Space; representatives from art media like Zhong Gang, editor-in-chief of DBL. To enhance the professional service quality, market-oriented development platform and international operation mode of 2021 Art Shenzhen, participants of the meeting had in-depth discussions on the development direction, quality improvement and brand upgrade of Art Shenzhen, and offered valuable advice and suggestions.
Learning widely from others' points to make progress
At the Consultation meeting of 2021 Art Shenzhen, professionals from all walks of life had extensive discussions on the planning of public art projects and academic activities of Art Shenzhen, its cooperation with local institutions, brand promotion, services for collectors and resource development, offered valuable suggestions for the preparations for 2021 Art Shenzhen, and shared thoughts and insights for the development of Art Shenzhen in the future.
To improve the academic quality of Art Shenzhen, the participating experts suggest that the planning of both public art projects and on-site activities should be enhanced. The planning for public art projects should be implemented as soon as possible, and professional curators should be invited to design systematic plans for related academic activities. Besides, certain curatorial concepts should be introduced to reflect the hosts’ taste for contemporary art. In terms of the planning for on-site activities, it is necessary to design plans suiting the conditions of exhibition halls. The audio equipment and regional planning can be adjusted to create a more rigorous academic atmosphere and enhance the audience's experience of participation. By improving its academic quality, Art Shenzhen will be able to expand its brand influence and better serve urban public aesthetic education.
In terms of strengthening brand marketing, the participating experts put forward suggestions on topic setting and the improvement of visual communication design. By designing plans for exhibitions for specific groups of visitors with unique characteristics, Art Shenzhen will be able to exhibit the characteristics either southern China or Shenzhen so that its brand will stand out in all similar expositions and offer more contents for media propaganda. In terms of visual communication, Art Shenzhen may strengthen its current graphic design to highlight the city of Shenzhen as the capital of design and make Art Shenzhen become a business card for Shenzhen through its newly designed conference journals, live guides, posters, VIP invitation cards and tickets.
The participating experts also put forward suggestions on the improvement of the quality of service for collectors in Shenzhen through effective brand cooperation or introduction, and strengthened cooperation with local institutions. Art Shenzhen should selectively cooperate with other brands and partners to jointly upgrade VIP negotiation zones and other VIP facilities and services so that Art Shenzhen and its partners will achieve win-win outcome and at the same time enhance collectors' on-site exhibition experience. In addition, Art Shenzhen should strengthen its cooperation with local institutions by introducing the prevalent sub-meeting venue model and inviting influential art institutions in the Greater Bay Area to jointly frame the concept of the Greater Bay Area, carry out more diversified cultural and artistic activities and organize more colorful special on-site artistic activities with tighter schedule so that the collectors will be able to know more about the overall development of art in the Greater Bay Area and enjoy richer art experience there.
In terms of the expansion and integration of collectors' resources, the Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee received valuable suggestions at the meeting. The participating experts suggested that the Organizing Committee expand the scope of collectors, have closer cooperation with local organizations and enterprises, such as Shenzhen Bay Club, VOC, Nanhai Club, SSL, South University of Science and Technology Education Foundation, Huawei, Ping’an and Tencent, enhance on-site exhibition tour guide, and hold art salons, academic lectures and other related art activities to popularize art work collection, shape the trend of local art life, and expand and integrate collectors' resources.
Hand in hand for the bright future
Ye Jianqiang, Secretary General of the Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee, said at the meeting that with the issuance of the “Opinions on Supporting Social Forces to Participate in the Construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”, the "Double Areas" promotes Shenzhen’s development in the new era. The organizer and undertaker of "Art Shenzhen" will adhere to the concept of openness, cooperation and development; open the doors to the outside world in holding exhibitions; and be open to cooperation. He said that Art Shenzhen deeply appreciated the love, encouragement, care and help from people from all walks of life. The opinions and suggestions put forward by the participating experts covered strategic planning, tactical arrangement, brand service, publicity and promotion, and Art Shenzhen would accept all these suggestions and both the decision-making and executive sections would reach consensus and implement these suggestions as soon as possible. He also said that next, the Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee would continue to improve its professional services for exhibitors and collectors, make up for its shortcomings, and continue to make its brand more international, specialized and market-oriented so as to gain more achievements in the future. Mr. Ye added that Art Shenzhen would continue to uphold the principle of "holding local area-based exhibition with global vision for bright future"; enhance the social benefits of culture and art; promote the steady upgrade of regional art market; and promote "Art Shenzhen" to become a more specialized and international exhibition at a higher level and with greater goals.
All members of the Art Shenzhen Organizing Committee expressed their deep gratitude to the participating experts for their strong support for Art Shenzhen. We sincerely hope that all of us will continue to help each other and forge ahead together with Art Shenzhen!