M50 Moganshan Road, Shanghai

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I’ve long wanted to visit M50 and I wasn’t’ disappointed and not only because of the art or the buildings and location.

Instantly, the environment feels good, creative, trendy and alive coupled with the added bonus of fantastic old warehouse buildings housing art in the most light beaming, lightful way. but when you dig a little deeper, the veneer of galleries becomes a little samey and only when you walk deeper into the back of M50 do you actually find a few real artist studios dotted in between the last few remaining living spaces of local residents.

M50 is a clutch of galleries, artist studios and design companies which have evolved and become a thriving creative entity within the confines of old buildings that were once textile factories, dying mills, cotton mills, wool spinning factories and warehouses from the 1930’s textile industry down by Suzhou creek. Going, in itself, is a unique opportunity to experience something of Shanghai’s speedily disappearing past by the water’s edge on the creek.

The reason I wasn’t disappointed in m50 wasn’t because of the art (samey) or because of the location (amazing) but because I met Thomas who modestly introduced himself as the Technical Director of Island 6 Arts Centre when I was poking in the room next to the gallery and he invited me in.

The room was open to the gallery but didn’t really feel a public space and I wanted to look. Thomas introduced me to the ‘studio’ which was floor to ceiling finished art work, work in progress and things needed to make work finished - little things, metal, wood, glue and cables and the smell of a wood workshop. The studio was also conducive to developing a creative output as I had felt in the NDT2 dance studio space in The Hague when I worked for Danceworks. The same feeling across the globe to produce art.

During the next 20 minutes, Thomas and I talked about art, concept, production, collaboration, artists and process, why there is no performance art in China and then I remembered why I like art and its unseen ripple of stimulation surrounding it but maybe it is inspirational people and one off pieces that remind me of my passion for art - not art itself.

Thomas isn’t the Technical Director only, of course, he owns the gallery which became apparent when we talked about his model of working practice which has evolved through ‘trial and error’. The gallery isn’t only a gallery, it is a front for the 10 permanent artists who he represents and the room in which we spoke was their studio where they work, develop and produce the work along with Thomas, the studio technician and the cleaner who has become a self appointed artist assistant - fantastic.

The work is Chinese and can be collaborative. The concept and work is that of the artists but it is nurtured by Thomas to a finished point that is production and product. Thomas also runs a residency programme which also the basis is production not research. You see, in China, art is young, there are no critics and ‘artists’ tend to produce work towards what the buyer likes - at Island 6, critique is from peers and clearly the work is art. In England, ‘artists’ apply for funding, they put the application in and wait. Here, there is no funding. Art is made and sold and that is the base line. I admired Thomas greatly and hope that my writing briefly about his model of practice has not done him an injustice because this is an art factory in the flesh and blood and it is surviving in an unpredictable art world.

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Photos

Old factory chimney through the window
and the 'new shanghai' skyline

very funny
kindling tacked together to reach the skylight.
climb it at your own peril

H & S notice
it's up to you because this is the extent of their H & S to the sky

Suzhou Creek
by the old textile factories and buildings which now house m50 arts