The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, He Xiangning Art Museum, the Shenzhen Fine Art Institute, and the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester are pleased to present Survival Strategies of Independent Art Spaces, an international forum taking place in Shenzhen, Beijing, and Manchester with a total of 33 speakers and 31 independent art organizations from China and around the world, as well as 18 critics and curators who focus on independent art spaces.

Our basic definition of independent art spaces is as follows: they are non-profit or not-for-profit, and provide free opportunities for independent, experimental and creative artists or artistic practices. In other words, they exist independently of art museums, galleries, and art districts, and are alternative, folk-based, and wild self-organizing art spaces.

As China undergoes its "great leap forward" in the construction of art museums and is mired in a chaotic mix of art zones, this forum explores the survival strategies and modes of existence of independent art spaces of all forms constructed in China, around the world, and by overseas Chinese, probing their conditions and challenges while emphasizing and promoting the free and independent attitudes and viewpoints of these spaces. Such spaces play a unique and dynamic role in the overall contemporary art system, and their practices are clearly rooted in reality.

Ticketing: Free

Note:

*Collect your ticket from reception 30 minutes before the event begins.

* Please no late entry.