The whole hutong art explosion is something we've been covering in depth for the last year-plus -- see our 2014 Beijing art rearview for proof. This is partially because there has been a proliferation of one-room / courtyard micro-galleries cropping up all over the hutong zones, like so many mushrooms after a Spring rain (where the rain is institutional or cultural funding showering down from various European agencies). Partially it's because we literally never leave the 2nd ring unless it's to get Mexican food. Most of the good Mexican food is in Sanlitun. Anyway, on the topic of hutong micro-galleries, I realized it was high time to get to Jiali Gallery, which more or less originated the trend. Jiali is so named because it is actually the home of its proprietor, Daphné Mallet, who's been a thread in the Beijing art world tapestry for a decade. Daphné, fresh off her student days, was deeply embedded in the mid-'00s 798 scene, still a relatively underground operation. As that art zone became increasingly commercialized and mainstream, she decided to pack up her contacts and move inward, renting a renovated courtyard apartment off Jiaodaokou Nan Dajie and going into business for herself. The first thing you notice about Jiali Gallery is that it's very hutong. It's located within this tiny sub-alley off an already tiny alley that doesn't even appear on Google Maps. Look for the piles of dirt: I visited Jiali Gallery for the first time on the occasion of their new exhibit, EIKASIA, a multi-channel video installation by long-term Beijing resident Alessandro Rolandi. It has a lot of things I like to think about, including visual overstimulation, George H.W. Bush / Xi Jinping mashups, APEC 2014, ISIS vids, manufactured realities, etc etc. I also sat down with Daphné to discuss the story of the gallery, her broader history within the Beijing art scene, how Jiali connects to the younger gallerists that have popped up in its stead, and its future commitment to multi-disciplinary, multi-site, and just generally multi happenings within Beijing's ever diversifying inner-city creative matrix: ***

: I came to Beijing at the beginning of 2005. I studied Chinese in university, back in Paris. But I've been coming to China since 1998. Traveling, staying at university, doing my language courses. The last time I came was 2004, and I realized [then] that I wanted to move here. I really felt something. So I moved in 2005, arrived at university in BLCU, and directly started to work at Cheng Xindong gallery in 798. It's one of the biggest galleries in 798, [especially] for the contemporary art world at the beginning of the '90s. It was good for me. Big galleries, a lot of contact with France as well, France and China. At that time it was very different. In 2005 it was really exciting, 798 felt underground. Not like today. So it was a great experience. Now it's been 10 years in China...

: It's three years now. I opened in May 2012. There were several motivations. First of all was to work with the new, young generation of artists. I used to work with first-generation Chinese contemporary artists, who were much more political, and much more… it's difficult to describe in a few words, but they were in their generation. So I was more interested in, and I felt more connected with, artists from my generation. This was the first thing. And then, I decided to open in the hutong, because I thought, "Why should I go to 798 to see art? Why not bring art to the center of the city?" And of course, the idea was also to create a more intimate space so that people could feel more comfortable to talk, to look at art, to make it a little less "white cube." It's quite intimidating sometimes, when you don't know the art world, you go in a gallery and you're a bit like, "Should I be here?" Nobody talks to you, this kind of thing. So I really wanted to make it more accessible for anyone.

: Well no, it is a commercial gallery. When I opened three years ago, it was the only way I could think of, because I didn't know any institution that could support me. Especially when you work with Chinese artists... they also don't get support. So you need to sell. Even for them, to make a living. Now, I'm coming back a little bit on this first idea. I think I would prefer to have a nonprofit space here in Beijing. It's definitely difficult, especially for what I'm showing, what I'm doing, because I don't do mainstream art, and especially in the hutong.

: Yes, I have. I meet people, and I invite them over. During my time in China I've met some artists whom I follow, which is also why I wanted to open my own space, because I really wanted to show them, to show their work. If you like it, and you connect with it, you just want to show it. Sometimes artists present other artists to me, it's a network. And it's the same for random artists. Sometimes I'm just here, they come here, they show me their work, and if I like it, I show it. I don't really care about nationality. They could be Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Israeli... this is not important. The important thing is the work.

: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you read it… [laughs] It's very long, what he wrote. [Ed.'s note: it really is quite long -- good read though.] It's really representing the confusion about images that we have in our society. Too much. We don't really know any more what is real, what is not real. One of the videos is a film of a pilot who gets burned by [terrorists]. When you watch this movie, you think it's Hollywood. It's like, you know there is a director behind the camera. And that's very confusing. Is it true? Is it not true?

: Yeah. There are a lot of these in this installation. When [artist] Alessandro [Rolandi] presented this project to me, I thought I wanted to do it, because it's so [reflective of] the actuality. I think art spaces also should have this kind of position. I don't know if you can say, to take a distance, but in a way… When you enter the exhibition, you're actually in it, but hopefully it will give you distance from media and images. I hope it's successful.

: Every exhibition is totally new. I leave a lot of freedom to the artists. We are doing it together. For me, it's very important that the artist is really at the center of the process. I'm just here to help them, to work as a team, give advice if they need it. But the artist is most important. Which is very different from other galleries. Usually the galleries go to the studio, they pick out the pieces that they like, and they say, "OK, I'll take this and I'll sell this." And that's it. So for me, it's very important to give freedom to the artist. They know better how to present their work. Of course they can have advice, but I do not like to direct them or order them.

: Yes, true. I love it, it's great. I'm so happy I'm not alone any more, you know? [laughs] We have great relations. We really want to work together. Now I almost don't go any more to 798. I just go to the openings in this area. To see Cruz [Intelligentsia Gallery], or Antonie and Anna [I: Project Space]. We have a plan to create a map so that people can find us more easily. The idea of creating a festival has also been discussed. It's in the process, we have to think about it. We are all very busy with our spaces, but now I think we are enough people. The problem is, a lot of the time, we just decide to do something, and then we do it next week. Like the salons at I: Project Space. We'll try to organize a talk there with Alessandro about this piece. I think it's needed. This piece needs to go further, to be opened to discussion. I think that's also the purpose of it.

: The next exhibition will be in collaboration with the French Embassy, part of the Festival Croisements. It's a French artist, Charlotte Guibé, a painter, who is coming to Beijing for the second time. We did an exhibition for her two years ago, but this will be new works. The interesting part is she's coming together with a writer. It's a multi-disciplinary project. The writer, Belinda, wrote a piece on Charlotte's work. So we're going to print a catalogue with these writings, and she's going to do a conference at the French Cultural Center. So it will be interesting. Literature and painting interaction. We'll also exhibit Charlotte's old work at Meridian Space, so it's also a collaboration with them. Multi-disciplinary, and multi-space, I think that's exciting. There is a connection between every discipline. So that's the next plan, in May. And then it will go on and on… *** Jiali Gallery is located at #4 Beijixiang Hutong, which is one south of Xiang'er Hutong, on the east side of Jiadaokou Nandajie. It's open every Thursday, Friday, and and Saturday from 2-7pm, or otherwise by appointment. Contact them here to set up an off-hours visit. The current exhibit, EIKASIA, is on view until April 25. As always, stay tuned to SmartBeijing for updates regarding Jiali and other happenings within the hutong micro-gallery constellation.