The banners were going to be hanged! How would this lool like? Would the image in my head fit to reality? Would it all be in
proportion in this 7 meters high space? Well, let the pictures tell the story!

Yesterday I finished with a remark about the fact that I couldn’t enter my own weblog here in Beijing. This got an extra confirmation when yesterday evening I visited a Chinese artist: here the same problem popped up. Without many words our glances at each other meant the same. The Olympics and also …. But at least I still can send my texts and photos.

This morning I had the appointment for the next session with my ladies group. This showed up to be in the Academy for Fashion in Beijing. Not that this was known to us but our driver, the one we ordered for already several times, was given this address. Well, after some time you get accustomed to this kind of surprises. Although it’s called the Academy for Fashion we learned that they also have disciplines in ornaments, industrial design and painting because Zhanhe, one of our group, is teacher here and gave us a tour in the afternoon.
But first we had our session which meant concentrated working. The group counted five women again like last Sunday but there were two new faces in it because a few others probably had other things to do. In consultation we decided that we all could work free on the paper I had brought with me. It’s interesting to notice that now we are getting to know each other better a few of the women feel more free to use their very basic English. The whole ambience was really nice with Chinese titter and tatter and a lot of giggling. They all worked in different styles, from pure abstract to realistic figurative. How I will let this fit in the exhibition I don’t know yet. But that’s my problem, not theirs.

We ended this morning session with a real nice lunch offered to all of us by Zhanhe in the special restaurant of the academy. This was appreciated of course very much. That on our way to this restaurant we had a look into the two huge lunch spaces that are available for the 2000 students here made even more lovely! Isn’t this one of the reasons why we are here? As a normal tourist you will never have part in this kind of things. I more and more realise for myself that these experiences are really unique.
It became even more fun when we got the tour I mentioned above. Old memories came up when we entered the classroom where the students of Zhanhe were working. But before we were allowed to enter the nude model they were drawing had of course to vanish behind some big paintings. From time to time only a curious head was sometimes visible. The students liked our visit very much and became even more enthusiast when I was allowed to make remarks about their work which Zhanhe tried to translate as good as possible. A lot of photos were taken of me and them like in the official stuff with the most important person in the middle. Because all of them of course had flashy mobile phones with the possibility to make photos. In comparison to theirs mines belongs in the museum as Middle Age stuff. They all also were wearing typical Western clothes, T-shirt and jeans. If there hadn’t been Chinese bodies in it with Chinese heads on top talking Chinese this meeting also could have taken place somewhere in the Western world. But are a lot of the clothes we wear not ‘made in China’!

This morning the sunshine at six o’clock was already so bright that I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. My painter genes were itching too much, so I went downstairs to the gallery at 6.30am to work on some of the banners. Two of them were really okay to be painted on at the white backsides in combination with the images on the frontside. For this I could use the acrylic paint and the Chinese ink I have bought here. Also as a preparation for the session tomorrow with the ladies group I started to make a self-portrait on the paper I had bought yesterday. Now at the end of the afternoon I feel very tired en empty. All my energy has been soaked up by this paper, the ink and the paint.
Luckily the men are taking care of the food supply. May be I have to explain why I use the plural form here for the opposite sex. In a second big expo space here in the gallery another artist, Hillary Pollock from Australia, is working. She also took her partner with her. And he, Graham, and my partner Harm have the same background: schoolteachers. Also they are both retired now. This of course gives a jointly feeling, just like Hillary and I have because of the art. Since we arrived we therefore did already together a lot of things I described before.

So the two men are going to hunt for food in the nearby old fashioned hutong while the ladies are at work. In the tangle of narrow streets and small houses you still have this feeling of the old China out of the history book. Well, there are a few things different now! What to think of all those new big cars driving there? I really would think it over about several times before I would decide to buy one of those. And what to think about the lamp-posts working on sun cells? In time I will show some pictures of hutongs like this.
So the men buy the food and come in then to tell in a triumphant way that they just bought eight pieces of bread filled with really lovely stuff for about 40 eurocents! And coming with that were of course, Graham is from Australia, a couple of cold beers from the supermarket for the same price.

Tonight we’ll probably go to our local Chinese family restaurant to fill our stomachs with their delicious Chinese food. We really have to think about it that we won’t come back like those small porcelain Chinese statues of laughing Chinese men with big Chinese bellies.

By the way, spoken about little Chinese men! There is something awkward going on with this blog. It’s no problem to send my messages and photos to be published on my website. But when I try to reach the blog on the website here in China this particular page is blocked. It says that the proxyserver, or something technical like that, cannot be reached. But from the Netherlands I know they don’t have such problems and I suppose that in other countries the weblog can also be read normally. I also tried to reach the blog in other ways but without any success. So what’s going on?

This morning I got the message that the ladies of the art group have organised a next meeting on Wednesday to start in early in the morning. So the taxi has to be in front of the gallery at 8am. This gives a good feeling because the last few days as well my brain as my body was under a lot of tension. But this is something I created myself with my ideas about this exhibition. On the other hand I know that such a situation generates a lot of new ideas, may be even to much.
One of my intentions already was to do ‘something’ with paper in this show because the art on paper plays an important role in the old Chinese culture. Therefore I started this morning to make small water-colours on paper I had brought with me from home. For my exhibition I want to show them in a block on one of the big walls.

But this afternoon I had to leave this work for some shopping. The group needs paper on Wednesday and I wanted to buy some special paper material in connection to the ‘something’ I mentioned above. So off again to the material shops in front of the central art academy of Beijing. Because there are a lot of students and also a lot of artists in the town there are also a lot of these shops in a concentration that we don’t know in the Netherlands. It’s really unbelievable, all the stuff you can buy here. And not only the stuff is unbelievable, also most of the prices. This is really something to get very greedy! I had to control myself, otherwise I would have bought too much.
After that we thought it a good idea to bring a short visit to the academy on the other side of the street while our driver, we asked for the same we had a couple of days ago, was waiting patiently. However, the short visit became a much longer one, not only because it’s not so difficult to get lost in this huge complex but also because we found their shop. This was again an opportunity to get greedy. So many beautiful and interesting books, unfortunately only in Chinese! But nevertheless it was clear that the students here are educated in the old fashioned skills of the job, a situation that hardly can be found in the Netherlands nowadays. You understand I had to buy a few books that I’m going to integrate in the show. But how? Well the next few days will give the solution.

Now it’s dinnertime and in China that’s not a bad time. Till now the food has been very good, as well in the more expensive restaurants as in the plain local family restaurants we have visited. When you have tasted the food and seen the prices you would be crazy to cook for yourself in the kitchen of the gallery. Think about it: last night we had a very good dinner with four people for nearly 4 €! That’s a reason to tell more about this but not now. Now still art is the main course.

As I wrote yesterday I could become thrilling today. And it was thrilling indeed! This morning unexpected early at 9.30 am there was the car to bring us to the atelier of the leader of the group of female artists I am going to work with on the banners. Also unexpected was the information that Christina Zhang, the English speaking Chinese communication manager of the gallery, felt ill and could not come with us. But now I know that there is always the mobile phone that can be used. This nowadays indispensable gadget was indeed indispensable! When we arrived at the atelier two artists were waiting for us. The group leader didn’t speak English at all, the other just a few words. So we opened a continuous line with me or one of the Chinese ladies on our side and Christine on the other. In the meantime they showed me their art work which was quite good. The leader had an impressionistic style that looked a bit like Bonnard, the other had developed a kind of comics style that was technically well done. At last our open telephone line wasn’t necessary anymore, because two artists that came in somewhat later, showed skills in the English language that made conversation just good enough to understand each other. At last we understood each others points of view so good that we decided to start working right away. So after a fifth artist had arrived with her car we drove off, with brushes and Chinese ink they had themselves, to the gallery in two cars because our driver had still been waiting for us.
Here they started to work on the banners with a lot of enthusiasm and energy, all in their own way. One really used the underground of the banner as a starting point, a second was dripping like Pollock and a third one was involved with Chinese characters. Not only the energy was spatting around, also the black ink. So after the session they not only had to clean their hands and even feet but also the concrete floor of the gallery needed a cleaning turn.

It’s clear, with this group I can develop a good co-operation. Therefore we made in principle the appointment to come together again somewhere during this week to make some works on paper that will be become part of the exhibition that opens next Sunday. When this will be is still a question mark because it showed again why in the art world, also the one in China, men seem to be more important than women. Most of the ladies in the group are in their thirties, are married, have children to take care of and also have a kind of job. So men have more time to develop their skills and the women just have to find some time in between.

Where it’s going to happen is also uncertain at the moment because they would like to work in one of their ateliers or in a classroom at the academy if that is available. Is this all going to happen? It’s not in my own hands anymore, in other words thrilling times are still ahead!

Because the oil paintings for my exhibition were send to China in a big roll they have to stretched and framed again here in Beijing. Gallerist Abraham Lubelski who lives partly in New York and partly in Beijing knows of course his way in China. So we were send to a workshop in the neighbourhood where they could do this for me. This was a new experience.
Don't believe to much about the stories that more and more Chinese have some knowledge of the English language, even in a very basic way. No one of the people in the workshop spoke one word of English. Well, may be 'goodby'. But then there is a simple solution: just use your mobile to phone the English speaking coworker at the gallery, explain to her the problem and she will translate that the other. In this way we solved problems about the costs of the framing and the date of delivery. Even the big boss came out of his invisible office where he had been consulted several times by one of the guys in the workshop. One of the advantages of this kind of experiences is of course that you learn in a quick way about the Chinese manners in doing business.

In the meantime our taxidriver had been waiting for us to bring us to a few other places we had planned to visit today. One of them was the Today Art Museum, a really nice and new museum for modern art. Another goal was the Art District 798, a huge complex of old factories that has been renovated partly in the last few years and where a lot of galleries, cafes and restaurants have found a place. This center is becoming more and more famous around the world, especially now Chinese art is so booming. Business seems going so well that also the rest of the other empty spaces is renovated and even partly rebuild. It's a very interesting place where we couldn't spend enough time. Therefore I'll report about it after a next visit that probably will take a whole day.

Another interesting aspect of today was that the taxidriver who took us around all day did cost

€ 20. Taking into account that Beijing is a very big city with really large distances between the different districts this is really no money. Therefore we probably skip the idea of renting a bike or even buy one. The taxidriver knows where to go, a bike doesn't.

Tomorrow I'll have my first meeting with the group of artists I would like to work with on the banners. On one side I'm looking forward to that, on the other side it's rather thrilling because I don't know them yet and don't even know what kind of art they make. So new adventures are waiting!

We have arrived! Not according schedule because some organization problems at KLM but when you realize that it took Marco Polo a bit longer to arrive here from Venice it's not really worthwhile to complain about.

A disadvantage however was that the meeting I should have had this afternoon with the Chinese artists I would like to work with on the banners had to be postponed till Sunday.

The first thing I had to do was of course controlling if these banners and the oil paintings I had send to the gallery before had arrived properly. Well, no complaints about that, perfect!

Because the meeting was cancelled the gallerist of the NY Arts Gallery Beijing proposed to go to a vernissage in an art center not to far away. It was interesting to see there that here in Beijing the same things are happening as in other parts of the world. Old factory grounds with rows of small houses on it are renovated and used by artists. This is the case with the place I'm staying now and also with this other art center. Interesting also was to see how the art world is getting more and more international. The visitors formed a nice mixture of Chinese and Western people. The food however was of course Chinese. And the chop sticks also! Thirteen years ago I used them for the last time, so I was surprised by myself to notice how well I handled them.

It has been a long day and a short night in the airplane. Therefore I long for my bed to sleep away a jet leg of 6 hours.