Back from the Brink
696 Weihai celebrates a two-year rental guarantee - By Melanie McGanney, Apr 17, 08
Things are looking up for the artists working out of the old opium storage facilities at 696 Weihai Lu. Last year at this time this "artist incubator," as resident Chris Gill calls it, seemed to be facing imminent destruction. Just a few months ago, however, the artists signed a lease for another two years. This Saturday, some 40-odd artists/studios will open their doors to the public for their second annual springtime show.
Susanne Junker and Chris Gill met with me yesterday and took me on a tour of the many buildings and their studios. Chris, a British-born artist who has worked out of a studio at 696 for the past two years, appeared at the entrance entirely covered in paint with Susanne, a German artist and formal model. The two seemed excited and pleased about their exhibition, which starts Saturday with 696's opening and runs through April 27 in Susanne's brand new gallery space in 696, which she has named "stageBACK."
696 Weihai is much cooler than the overly commercial district Moganshan Lu -- this is mainly because not nearly as many people know about it. But Chris says that 696 may not be inherently more 'underground' than Moganshan, "it's just in a different stage of the artist incubator life cycle."
This "cycle" starts when artists move into a run down area where rent is low. The good rent-to-floor space ratio attracts more artists and prices slowly (or quickly) start to rise, at which point the galleries move in. Rent prices rises even more, the galleries become commercial, and the artists move out in search of another, less expensive space.
When Chris moved in two years ago rent was about 800rmb/month
Susanne Junker and Chris Gill met with me yesterday and took me on a tour of the many buildings and their studios. Chris, a British-born artist who has worked out of a studio at 696 for the past two years, appeared at the entrance entirely covered in paint with Susanne, a German artist and formal model. The two seemed excited and pleased about their exhibition, which starts Saturday with 696's opening and runs through April 27 in Susanne's brand new gallery space in 696, which she has named "stageBACK."
696 Weihai is much cooler than the overly commercial district Moganshan Lu -- this is mainly because not nearly as many people know about it. But Chris says that 696 may not be inherently more 'underground' than Moganshan, "it's just in a different stage of the artist incubator life cycle."
This "cycle" starts when artists move into a run down area where rent is low. The good rent-to-floor space ratio attracts more artists and prices slowly (or quickly) start to rise, at which point the galleries move in. Rent prices rises even more, the galleries become commercial, and the artists move out in search of another, less expensive space.
When Chris moved in two years ago rent was about 800rmb/month
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