Arthub Favorite: Week 154

It’s inappropriate to name our “favorite” of the week of this sad news, but it is definately “important” of the week to share this news.

Dearest Artists, Supporters, and Friends:

After a remarkable eleven and a half years of running our experimental storefront art space Arrow Factory will close its doors at the end of this month, September 2019. It has been nothing short of a small miracle that Arrow Factory lasted this long, especially in a city that has witnessed such extreme transformations as Beijing has in these past ten years. Arrow Factory has prided itself on being contingent upon its immediate environment, presenting works that could form meaningful responses to the diverse economic, political and social conditions of our given locality. Our closure at this juncture is no different. We chose this neighborhood in part because of its everyday qualities. Over time these features have left their mark on us, and we can only hope our mark has been left be- hind too. While we have always accepted that our existence was tenuous—subject to rising rents, gentrification, and usual government scrutiny—we did not expect what would actually occur: a layering of top-down policies disguised as “neighborhood improvements” that would slowly asphyxiate our hutong, making our work untena- ble. We have instructions to shutter our display window permanently making it impossible to continue with our current format at this location.

It is now time for us to extend deep and heartfelt gratitude to all the wonderful people who have been a part of this project over the last decade and more: our gracious donors and institutional sponsors, first-rate translators, talented designers and dedicated printers, our generous volunteers, loving families, and supporters near and far. We are especially indebted to the many artists who shared their ideas and precious time with us. There are some projects that we regretfully will not get around to completing, but we should all be proud that we have created one of the most vibrant, longest-standing, independent art spaces in a tiny alley in Beijing. Arrow Factory captured the sentiments of a unique time and place. We carved out space in a small corner of the universe for high-quality artistic experimentation, and it was glorious. We could not have done it without you.

Our next steps are unclear. While our morale is battered, we are not broken, and our creative impulse and spirit remain. We will keep you posted.

Much love and best regards,
The Arrow Factory Team: Rania Ho, Wang Wei, Pauline Yao 2019.09.26