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Enjoy art by the sea at a new gallery in northern China

China Daily,October 23, 2018 Adjust font size:

Enjoy art by the sea at a new gallery in northern China - Chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing's renowned contemporary art institution UCCA opened its first branch the Dune Art Museum facing the Bohai sea at the Beidaihe resort in Hebei province, with the inaugural show After Nature featuring works on nature and humans on Oct 13.[Photo provided to China Daily] 

Beijing's landmark art institution, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, opened its first branch the Dune Art Museum, an art gallery built "inside a sand dune" on the beach at the Beidaihe resort in North China's Hebei province, and its inaugural exhibition After Nature was unveiled on Oct 13.

The art museum, facing the Bohai Sea, comprises three outdoor and seven indoor galleries, all of which are connected like a string of caves of different sizes and shapes.

The exterior of the museum is covered by sand and local plants, hiding the white building in the dune.

The opening show focuses on nature and features photos, videos and installations by nine Chinese artists from different generations who discuss the relationship between nature and humanity.

Speaking about the new museum, Philip Tinari, the director of UCCA, says this is the first time that the nonprofit art institution has set up such a gallery.

The museum in Beidaihe, on the outskirts of Qinhuangdao-a popular summer retreat for people living in the northern cities, especially Beijing and Tianjin-is supported and owned by the Aranya Gold Coast Community, a tourism project in the area with lots of structures, including a library on the beach and a church.

The UCCA will hold exhibitions at the museum and will curate at least two shows every year, under a five-year contract with Aranya, says Tinari.

"It (the museum) is in the right location and in the right building. And as it is very close to Beijing, we can offer our services, " says the director of UCCA, a well-known art institution focusing on contemporary art and founded by the Belgian collector Guy Ullens in 2007.

Meanwhile, the art center was sold by Ullens and his wife, Myriam, known for their huge collection of Chinese art, to a group of Chinese last year.

Although the ownership of the center has changed hand, the brand still enjoys a good reputation due to its shows featuring star artists from home and abroad.

Speaking about the dune museum, which has no collection of its own, and is used as an exhibition space, Tinari says: "It's like another gallery of UCCA. And we're pretty excited about developing the new model to see how it will work.

"We're open to more opportunities in the future."

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