Will China’s art market and exhibition scene recover any time soon following Covid lockdowns?
- Some gallerists see recovery as still some way off as Shanghai and Beijing bustle to resume exhibitions suspended by China’s spring Covid-19 lockdowns
- Insiders say recent stand-out Shanghai shows include Jennifer Guidi at Long Museum (West Bund), Ma Qiusha at Longlati Foundation and Thomas Demand at UCCA Edge
Shanghai and Beijing’s art districts have seen a flurry of activity as galleries are bustling to resume exhibition schedules suspended by spring Covid-19 lockdowns.
However, with capacity limits and the need for visitors’ recent negative PCR results to be verified before entry, and with up to 40 per cent of Shanghai’s art venues not fully open to the public, China’s art market, one of the world’s most important, faces a tough recovery.
Most Shanghai spaces were shut from mid-March until mid-July, bookending the city’s hard lockdown in April and May, while most Beijing galleries and museums were closed in May as the capital went through rolling spot lockdowns.
Only 60 to 70 per cent of Shanghai’s art venues have reopened, according to You Yang, a Shanghai-based art adviser who worked for eight years in Shanghai galleries including James Cohen and Matthew Liu.
“Sadly, many are still limited to online viewing only, or closed again for safety reasons after reopening,” she says.
