Independent Art Spaces Unite in Beijing

Independent Art Spaces (IAS) is pleased to announce its fourth edition from September 6-8, 2019. This year, IAS festivities begin at Aotuspace with the launch of the IAS MAP 2019, and continue over the weekend with a series of professional development workshops hosted at I: project space. This festival gathers 24 domestic spaces and 10 international spaces from Germany, Australia, Switzerland and Japan participating in this year’s festival. Two Swiss off-spaces, Hamlet and Longtang, will send over participants with the support of Pro Helvetia Shanghai.

Independent Art Spaces (IAS) is a network that seeks to unite Beijing’s patchwork of alternative, non-profit and non-commercial galleries in the spirit of sharing knowledge and purpose. Each year, Independent Art Spaces selects a different theme for public events towards the end of summer.

Beijing is the petri dish for a growing network of new and alternative art platforms in all sorts of environments: From the small alleyways in the city’s hutongs, to programs in artists’ studios, to exhibitions in private apartments and spaces in residential buildings in various parts of the city. Characterized by strong conceptual approaches, open dialog and by incorporating parts of the city in which art could flourish away from the predetermined art zones, these spaces have merged into a network of dynamic art exchanges making new contributions to the progress of the discourses of contemporary art in China. This broad spectrum of programs is mirrored, archived and made publicly accessible by Independent Art Spaces.