Wreckers put art colony out of the picture
By Wang Shanshan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-19 06:45

The 126 Chinese, Asian and Western artists in Beijing's leading art community Suojiacun are seeing red, after hearing their illegally built work and living spaces may be torn down in the coming week.

About one tenth of the studios have been dismantled since Tuesday.

"The authorities together with the artists should work to find a way to legitimize the Suojiacun art village and to preserve its value as a symbol of international artistic and cultural cross-over, and as a means to allow Chinese art to grow and become appreciated all over the world," Alessandro Rolandi, an Italian artist and resident of the community, told China Daily.

"At least we want some more time to find another place in Beijing," said Shang Yang, an artist and professor with the Capital Normal University, who also lives at the village.

Artists swarmed to Suojiacun, north of the Fifth Ring Road in 2004 as soon as the "Beijing International Art Camp" was developed, lured by its low rent of about 800 yuan (US$99) a month for a simple warehouse covering 150 square metres, according to Shang.

It was reported that the developer had received a land lease from the village administration, but the latter had no proper authorization from an upper level of the government.

"We didn't know that," said Laetitia Gauden, a French artist in residence.

The Gaoyougao Trade Co Ltd, which developed the art camp, received a notice from the urban planning office of Cuigezhuang Township in April, 2004, which said that the construction of the camp was illegal because it did not get approval from the office, said Huang Zhigao, general manager of the company. But the company went on with the project.

This May the township's urban administration office told the company that the finished buildings would be demolished, and the latter appealed to the Chaoyang District Court.

A month later the court ruled in support of the township government. It notified the company about its decision twice before the ruling was executed on Tuesday. But the company informed some artists of the court decision only on Monday afternoon, while leaving others in the dark.

"I was going to send my son to school when suddenly I saw trucks from removal companies in the courtyard," said Gauden.

Some artists said they are going to sue the company to reclaim rent and get compensation.

"Those who chose Suojiacun are not rich. Most travel by bus and on foot when they have to go to the downtown area, and many have spent their life savings on furnishings their homes here," said Shang.

But Gauden and the other Western artists said they were not going to sue.

"I pity the company as it loses the most. We hope the decision could be reversed," she said.

(China Daily 11/19/2005 page1)