“We want to create something that can propagate culture domestically and also internationally. We want to showcase the creativity of China,” he said. “We don’t want to just focus on art; we want to cross different segments in the cultural world. We want to cross art with fashion, we want to cross art with architecture, art with furniture, art with celebrities.”
Last year, for example he arranged for Chinese video artist Cheng Ran to create a work that featured what he called “a people’s celebrity,” the well-known actress Zhao Liying. (She also serves as a brand ambassador for Chow Tai Fook Jewelry, another one of Cheng’s holdings.) Lau notes that these kinds of integrations and interdisciplinary activations will vary in their scope. “It doesn’t mean that we have to put fashion in every show, or we don’t have to play hip hop or pop music in our exhibition space,” in order to attract a broad audience, she said. However, she shares Cheng’s vision that contemporary art should be related to contemporary culture.
“If I’m working with contemporary artists, I need to know what the contemporary culture is that they’re creating within, including fashion, including music,” she said.
“What we’re trying to do is art for the masses,” Cheng said. “From 2010, we’ve been incubating contemporary Chinese artists, curators, and grooming an audience.”
“This,” he said, “is a new start.”