1990년대 초 중국 아트 빌리지 형성에 관한 연구: 원명원(圆明园) 아트 빌리지와 동촌(东村)을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomena and critical contributions of art villages established in Beijing, the center of culture and politics as well as economic reformation in China during the early 1990s. The household registration system being loosened during the 1980s after the reformation and opening did allow the movement of population. This led to the emergence of artists being freed from the existing system, so-called ‘Mangliu’ artists. They formed ‘Old Summer Palace’ Art Village and ‘East Village’ and sought new paths to survive and work as independent artists. Meanwhile, the two art villages existing in the same period were characterized differently. In Old Summer Palace Art Village, the artists being freed from the constraints of the system played roles in establishing liberal lifestyles and art markets they pursued while in East Village, the artists were grounded on the actual environment for survival and introduced avant-garde works showing conflicts between individuals and rapidly changing social environment with their own body. The two art villages were forcibly torn down by the authority in 1995, but they formed the dwelling model for the current community living of many artists including 798 in Beijing. At the end of this paper, the authors explore the two art villages’ homo sacer characteristics laid the foundation of art villages spontaneously developing in the contemporary art of China.