The Art Newspaper

Second edition of Shanghai fair still faces struggles

Economic worries, customs issues and venue changes cause problems for exhibitors, though exhibitors say some sales were made

By Chris Gill. Web only
Published online: 07 June 2010

The second edition of the Shanghai Fine Jewelry and Art Fair (SFJAF) had a problematic run in Shanghai in May. Following two year’s postponement due to the economic crisis and visa issues during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the fair returned for its second instalment with only around 20 exhibitors, down from 40 who attended the first event.

The organizers moved the show from its original location at Shanghai Exhibition Center, to the newly renovated Rockbund area near Shanghai’s waterfront. One insider said that the change of location was prompted by a much larger Shanghai antiques fair having booked out Shanghai Exhibition Center for the dates originally planned for the SFJAF. The Shanghai Antique Furniture fair, an eclectic sprawling fair held during the same period, had more than 200 exhibitors.

Exhibitors saw many works held up by customs, and many exhibitors had empty booths on the opening VIP night, and a press preview was cancelled. Some pieces had still not cleared customs several days into the fair.

Despite these issues the organizers said that 80% of exhibitors had some sales and two exhibitors, Bernard de Leye silverware and Orphée, a lalique art specialist, plan to open galleries in Shanghai.

The location was also not yet fully prepared for the high-end show, as construction and renovation work is still on going at the Rockbund project. Different explanations for the customs hold ups were given, such as complications arising from the World Expo, to wrongly filled out customs declarations, to exhibitors having hit restricted areas, such as the import of gold.

The SFJAF did feature some interesting exhibitions, notably JGM Gallery, which featured miniature versions of sculptures from the Ami Barak curated “Art for the World” project, the main art installation set up along the World Expo boulevard featuring massive sculptures by 20 international artists. The gallery representative said the works were for display only, but if you wanted to buy a piece you could “talk to her boss”.

Robert Bowman of Robert Bowman Gallery said he had sold some small works, and the fair had “a good selection of people. There is a strong split in the market between those people who have spent time in Europe, and are more interested in modern, and those more interested in 19th-century work.”

The happiest face at the fair was local gallerist Yang Renrui, who owns the Guorui Art Gallery. His large booth featured some early 20th-century oil paintings by well known Chinese masters, and a good selection of revolutionary art, now very popular on the local market. Yang told The Art Newspaper he own around 800 pieces, predominately from the 1950s to late 1970s. Yang said he was very interested in tracking down and buying similar works that are held abroad. Yang, exhibiting in an art fair for the first time, said he found that buyers were “high end”, and that the hanging and overall quality at the fair was very high. “China is looking at internal things, very earnestly, the focus is on traditional and fine art, we don’t trust contemporary art, those artists produce one piece in one day, it is too quick, and they use materials such as acrylic,” Yang said.