Around the world, Chinese contemporary art continues to be a hot ticket item. But where it was once Beijing artists who stole the limelight, attention is now turning to innovative, independent-thinking Shanghai artists.

Chinese contemporary art is soaring in both profile and price. While Beijing artists are grabbing most of the limelight, an untold story is the rise of the Shanghai art scene.

Characterized by new media, installation and experimental art forms, Shanghai's cutting-edge artists have reacted against the trend of "art for the market."

Chinese art caught international attention only very recently. The turning point came in 2006 when Sotheby's and Christie's, the world's largest auction houses, sold Chinese contemporary artworks for record prices.

Since then Beijing-based painters such as Zhang Xiaogang, Wang Guangyi and Liu Xiaodong have dominated the scene. Zhang in particular with his family portraits of "cultural revolution" (1966-76) imagery has topped the bill, beating records again this April with a painting that sold for more than US$6 million.

But sudden success has bred speculation of an inflated market that rewards art with the "China brand" - obvious Chinese imagery that appeals to foreign bidders.

"There's great interest in the Chinese art market, but it's also a puzzle, there's very little academic knowledge about it," says Pippa Dennis, organizer of Asia Art Forum. "And Shanghai has an incredibly important role, but this story is often untold. The Asia Art Forum addresses that gap."

The event, which starts tomorrow, is organized in collaboration with Arthub, a non-profit art and cultural organization which promotes contemporary art creation in China and the rest of Asia.

The forum features speakers who have been intimately involved with the Chinese and Shanghai art scene. One of the speakers, Karen Smith, is a Beijing-based curator who for the past decade has brought Chinese art to the West in a series of exhibitions at major museums.

Smith says that in the 1990s Shanghai's contemporary art scene was more traditional than that of Beijing, but the tables have now turned as Beijing artists attract commercial value.

"In the past, Shanghai art was 'sweeter' and more visually appealing whereas Beijing was more politically oriented and deliberately rough. But today, Beijing's art circles are competitive because some artists sell for millions," she says.

"By contrast Shanghai art circles consisting of names such as Xu Zhen, Zhou Tiehai and Ding Yi are smaller, foster discussion and are more experimental."

According to Smith, a core group of contemporary Shanghai artists reacted against creating art for the market. They are characterized by new media and installation art that's harder to sell at auction, with fewer painters than in Beijing.

The themes of the artworks are less political and more about "the artists' lives, the Internet, music and film."

Much of the current debate over whether the Chinese art market is a bubble rests on the eternally difficult question of what is good art.

"I look for artists that are consistently devoted to an idea instead of following trends," says Smith, whose responsibility is to make that distinction. "I look for someone who has their own language. It's difficult but there are enough good artists in China working in interesting ways - the market won't drop off."

For more information about Asia Art Forum, visit www.asiaartforum.com.

(CRI October 20, 2008)