One of the founders of art021, Zhou Dawei
The Paper: In the past five years, art021 has come to the Shanghai Exhibition Center from the Bund source, and the number of participating galleries and brands are also improving, how do the three founders of art021 complement each other?
Zhou Dawei: I think it is because the backgrounds of several of our founders are different - Ying Qinglan has been engaged in the media advertising industry for many years; Bao Yifeng has practical experience, he has insights in the quality requirements such as the effect of the exhibition; I have many years of collection experience and some artists and galleries' relationship network, and it is easier to gather some good galleries. The cooperation of our three founders was very strong, so we were able to quickly invite a lot of high-quality galleries in the first edition.
Personally, I come from a collection background, have done galleries and auctions, and the entire art ecology is basically involved. Since 2003, I am still familiar with the whole industry. Therefore, when the first art021 was held, I was more relaxed than others in that some high-quality foreign galleries joined the exhibition at my invitation, which was based on a kind of trust, and they would choose to provide support in the first and second sessions.
Shanghai Exhibition Center art021 overlook
The Paper: What is the screening mechanism for art021's participating galleries? What criteria must they meet?
Zhou Dawei: art021 strictly controls the selection mechanism of galleries, and we have a special gallery judging committee, which includes representatives of galleries, representatives of critics and representatives of the media. The screening mechanism takes about half a year from registration to final exhibition. This year, two or three hundred galleries were registered, and a hundred were finally selected. Our judging criteria are very high, and we don't just judge, we also give opinions and reviews to every gallery, and even every work. What we value in the review is not only the reputation of the gallery, but also the projects and works it reports. So, often some young galleries join because they report very good projects, and in the approach unit, the main presentation is the young gallery.
But for the main gallery's exhibition area, we need galleries with at least three to five years of experience, which is due to the gallery's ability to serve collectors, and for some inexperienced galleries, even if the project is good, we will worry about their follow-up service capabilities and post-protection of collectors.
Exhibition site
The Paper: In the past 5 years, has art021 increased its revenue while the brand has grown?
Zhou Dawei: Actually, the expo itself, I think we are doing a good job. We haven't lost money since the first year, but we can't say that we are rich through the Expo, which is very unrealistic. Our revenue mainly comes from sponsorship, gallery booth fees and tickets, although the annual revenue is doubling, but our profits are not, because our costs are increasing more, which is also because we have more requirements every year, and the requirements for the quality of the gallery are higher. This year's cost is much more than last year's, and the cost is mainly concentrated in construction, publicity, pick-up and reception, collector's dinner, etc.
Art021vvip crowds
The Paper: You can see some stars on art021, and you will also have stars to join in your promotion, will the star effect have a big impact on the exhibition itself?
Zhou Dawei: The star effect does not help the works much, because many of the big collectors who really buy these works also have a strong personality and will not be too affected by any star. Of course, celebrities will have a help to our brand and art021's reputation in the market, and these stars are accumulated by friends for many years, not that we look for them to endorse, but more in a private state, like the promotional video is what many stars promised to promote to us. In fact, in my opinion, the involvement of stars can make people feel that we are a young, trendy feast, and I think this positioning is also very important to us.
The Paper: At the same time as art021, there is also the West Bund Art Fair, do you think there is a difference in the focus of the two?
Zhou Dawei: Our positioning is still different from the West Bund Art Fair, I think we will be more concerned about and take care of the gallery's sales and collector's services, his West Bund may be partial to some curatorial nature or project nature, from my point of view, the expo is a sales platform, the core is to help the gallery find collectors, help collectors find good works.
The Paper: Will art021 learn from the model of top international art fairs such as Basel and Fritz in the future?
Zhou Dawei: I always think that we don't want to be the second Basel or Fritz, we just want to bring in some Western galleries, so that excellent Chinese galleries or local Asian galleries can contact more top institutions and improve their capabilities, so in the end we still want to cultivate localization. Another difference between us and the West Bank may be that they are more Western galleries, and we are still relatively dominated by local galleries.
The Paper: I understand that you also display and sell gallery works on the online platform, tell us about your views on online sales and your expectations for the future?
Zhou Dawei: We have always cooperated with some galleries on online platforms, but compared with the sales of online platforms, it is definitely based on physical sales, and the role of online platforms in the sale of artworks is still limited, and it plays a role in display and publicity at most. Of course, we also have great tolerance and acceptance of the Internet, and we also need to promote it by online media. Our expo has done a lot of network publicity, including self-media publicity, which may play a role in promoting sales, but it is certainly far less than the entity for conversion into sales.
The Paper: Next year art021 will enter Beijing, what is the reason for this? Some people say that art021 will be a forced needle in the sluggish Beijing art market, do you agree with this statement? What will be the difference between art021 in Beijing and Shanghai?
Zhou Dawei: My expectation is also to break the silence. We also hope to "do things", how to "do" - that is, to bring quality, excellent service and execution to the past.
Beijing art021 is still different from Shanghai, we will start with a very small scale, like our first session in Shanghai is only more than 30 galleries, we will have a small scale invitation system, not to say that the gallery can sign up, and Beijing will not only be contemporary art, we hope to do more grounded, such as there may be antiques, modern and contemporary art, there are also traditional art, but we will also be carefully selected to enter. Regarding the location of the place in Beijing, it has not yet been fully determined, but we are definitely placed in the city center, and we hope that it is within the second and third ring roads, and we still have requirements for the building and the environment.
The Shanghai Exhibition Center at night
The Paper: What are the expectations or new plans for the next 5 years?
Zhou Dawei: Do not forget the original intention, serve collectors well, support good galleries, and hope that more Chinese galleries can become stronger. We do hope that the quality of Chinese galleries can be improved and strengthened. For the five-year goal, whether it is Beijing or any other city, it can be expanded and expanded, but if the quality is not good enough, the quality cannot be improved every year, and the way to make money cannot be long-term.