696 Weihai Lu: An Artist Haven Doomed

696 Weihai Lu, home to struggling multi-media artists, may become one more Shanghai architectural fatality this summer. More than 30 artists from around the globe have congregated in this century-old, British-style building to create a variety of art forms: painting, sculpture, photography, video installation, fashion design and more. The group formed organically when a single photographer moved into the space, enjoyed the location and then invited a friend to move in as well. Gradually, word of mouth spread and the inexpensive spaces pulled in the rest of the artists.

When the inhabitants of 696 Weihai attempted to renew leases set to run out at the end of June, the realtors refused. This refusal has helped generate rumors that the road and its dozen or so buildings will be torn down to make way for Shanghai's latest foray into conceptual urban planning. Zoe Zhang, art director for the Shanghai Duolan Museum of Modern Art, says, "no one really knows where the rumor about 696 Weihai started." But the realtor's steadfast refusal to sign long-term agreements with the resident artists does not bode well. And although this shut-down remains a rumor, it is an entirely plausible one in a city that unremittingly razes landmark buildings in the name of "modernity."

Firmly embedded in the Shanghai contemporary art scene and completely dedicated to the artists at 696 Weihai, Zoe is determined to save 696 Weihai Lu from destruction. Self taught in English, this energetic woman plans to do everything in her power to shield these artists from eviction. For three weeks in April, the Shanghai Duolan Museum and the artists from 696 organized a joint exhibition. For the first time, 696 Weihai was opened to the public as a museum unto itself; one could comb the grounds searching for the diverse art forms produced therein. At the same time, the Duolan housed its own exhibition of works by these artists. If you visit 696 Weihei Lu today, the mural sized poster of the exhibition still hangs in the entranceway, as does a map detailing the location of each work of art.

Situated in one of Shanghai's central business districts, the buildings that make up 696 are a work of art unto themselves and stand as a testament to a disappearing Shanghainese underground. Built during the height of Chinese opium use, it is likely that the buildings originally served as opium storage facilities, although probably not as actual opium dens. Zoe likes to think that the opium itself caused artistic inspiration and she imagines "the afternoon sunlight fading across the buildings" as artistic types looked on in an opium haze.

As I wended through the buildings it was easy to see why so many artists have chosen to congregate here. Protected from the noisy intersection of Shanxi Lu and Weihai Lu by an enormous guarded entranceway, the space exudes a calm and peaceful energy. Sunlight pours into the building's loft-like windows and provides the majority of the lighting. Inside, dark corridors and winding staircases connect a maze of rooms. Dingy and dank, these spaces call out for artists to fill them with unique creations.

Painter Zhangpiy is one of the artists who may have to relocate if these buildings are torn down. Zhangpiy paints "private life" scenes in oil, which include images of her emerging from the shower and preparing for her day. Dressed in camouflage dungarees with her long hair plaited in two braids, Zhangpiy is quiet and serene. When asked where she would go if the building is razed she simply smiled and shrugged, "I don't know."

In their attempt to save 696, Zoe and the resident artists face a dilemma. In part, the appeal of this location for the artists is that it has remained relatively quiet. Guidebooks don't drive in hoards of foreigners the way they do at Moganshan Lu. The relatively low profile keeps prices down and ensures that only the truly interested visit to view the artwork. In order to save this art haven, however, it will be necessary to get the word out about its impending destruction and raise some clamor in the process. The effect such publicity will have on the current atmosphere can only be imagined.