Dealing with a new market: the case of the emerging contemporary art market in China

In the 1980s there was barely an art market in China and now it is one of the world’s largest. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Beijing contemporary art market and interviews with artists, art dealers, collectors, museum directors, auction house employees and others, this talk will discuss how market emergence is done and perceived by its participants. In particular, it will address how the valuation of art happens in this new market, how this market’s participants perceive their market, and how the contemporary art market in China relates to established art markets in Europe and the US.