Make art accessible to more people

Last year, China Daily headquarters received a major facelift - the first in two decades.

Apart from its ivory exterior, neon-lit bilingual signs, carefully-trimmed lawns and shrubberies, and gushing fountains, what is most impressive are the paintings, prints and award-winning photographic art works hanging on the walls of the newsroom and the lobby cafe.

For 25 years, China Daily office walls were blank and occasionally dotted with notices or slogans, but never was there any trace of art.

Now there are still works, landscapes, futuristic and abstract imageries.

Most of my colleagues see these displays in a positive light and would agree with me that they have become part of China Daily's office culture.

Actually, some of them even talk to me at the dinner table about contemporary Chinese art while others seek advice on how to pick the right artworks for their newly purchased houses.

This is the first time such an interaction is happening in the decade or so that I have been working for the paper. And it reflects Chinese people's growing cultural needs.

For quite some time now, a seemingly red-hot art market, especially contemporary art, has been seen as a game for the rich, and sometimes, "exclusively for the super-rich".

Most are aware of the new record prices set at certain auctions in Beijing, Hong Kong, London and New York for works by Chinese artists such as Zhang Xiaogang, Liu Xiaodong, and Zeng Fanzhi.

Art appeared to be a luxury, out of reach of most Chinese people.

This got me thinking that there must be something wrong with China's art world and the art market.

In fact, the culture of collecting has a long history in China, dating back thousands of years.

Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of this tradition, with Chinese people's living standards rising dramatically.

There is growing demand for quality cultural products, including fine art works.

But art lovers often go for Chinese antiques and poor quality imitations of ancient masterworks, or of works by eminent contemporary artists, instead of original works.

I think it is time to make original artwork accessible to the average art lovers and not just to a handful of foreigner investors (speculators?) and some of China's newly rich.

The global economic crisis has dealt a heavy blow to the Chinese contemporary art market over the past two years.

Most galleries have not been able to sell a single piece of work for months and are just waiting for a recovery.

Some private art museums and galleries have tried to salvage their businesses by shifting to the cheaper limited-edition photographic and lithographic art works.

Some prominent art spaces, such as the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art and the Today Art Museum, have expanded their art stores and have even gone online, to partially cover their operating costs.

At the same time, some organizations such as Time Out magazine, Songzhuang Cultural Development Foundation, and Beijing Culture and Art Foundation have organized occasional fairs of so-called "affordable art works".

All these are commendable moves.

But they should not be merely contingency measures to stave off the impact of the economic crisis, but be made regular measures to expand the presence of art in contemporary life.

Once a demand for original artwork, of varying prices, takes shape here, Chinese art creation and art market will take off and contribute significantly to the local economy.