April 21, 2014
ASIA / PACIFIC
In China, a jar of French
mountain air fetches $860
By Didi Tang
The Associated Press
EIJING — Beijing artist Liang Kegang returned
from a business trip in southern France with
well-rested lungs and a small item of protest
against his home city’s choking pollution: a glass jar of
clean, Provence air.
He put it up for auction before a group of about 100
Chinese artists and collectors in late March and it fetched
5,250 yuan ($860).
“Air should be the most valueless commodity, free to
breathe for any vagrant or beggar,” Liang said in an
interview. “This is my way to question China’s foul air and
express my dissatisfaction.”
Liang’s work is part of a gust of recent artistic protests
— and entrepreneurial gimmickry — reflecting wide-
spread dissatisfaction about air quality in China, where
cities often are immersed days on end in harmful
pollutants at levels many times what is considered safe by
the World Health Organization. The chronic problem has
spurred brisk markets for dust masks and home air
purifiers.
China’s senior leaders have pledged to clean the air,
partly in response to a citizenry increasingly vocal about
environmental issues. But it is a daunting task that must
be balanced with demands for economic development and
employment crucial to maintaining stability.
In February, 20 artists wearing dust masks lay on the
ground and played dead in front of an altar at the Temple
of Heaven park in a performance art protest in Beijing.
In March, independent artists in the southern city of
Changsha held a mock funeral for what they imagined
would be the death of the city’s last citizen because of
smog.
“If smog cannot be effectively cleaned up, what it will
leave us is death and cities of death,” artist Shao Jiajun
said.
Liang’s contribution is a short, ordinary glass preserves
jar with a rubber seal and a flip-top. It has three small,
handwritten paper labels: one with the name and
coordinates of the French village, Forcalquier, where he
closed the jar; one saying “Air in Provence, France” in
French; and one with his signature in Chinese and the
date — March 29.
The auction closed on the night of March 30, and
Chengdu-based artist and entrepreneur Li Yongzheng
was the highest bidder.
“I have always been appreciative of Kegang’s
conceptual art, and this piece was very timely,” Li said in a
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POLLUTION PROTEST. Beijing artist Liang Kegang collects fresh
air in the commune of Forcalquier in Provence, France. The jar of air is
a piece of conceptual art to protest his home city’s choking pollution. It
fetched $860 in a small auction. (AP Photo/Liang Kegang)
telephone interview. “This past year, whether it was
Beijing, Chengdu, or most Chinese cities, air pollution has
been a serious problem. This piece of work really suits the
occasion.”
Liang is not the only one to make money from China’s
air-pollution angst. Entrepreneurs also see the potential,
and so do tourism officials in parts of the country where
skies are clear.
Chinese President Xi Jinping joked to Guizhou province
delegates during last month’s National People’s Congress
that the scenic southwestern province could put its air up
for sale. Days later, the province’s tourism bureau an-
nounced plans to sell canned air as souvenirs for tourists.
“Canned air will force us to stay committed to
environmental protection,” provincial tourism director Fu
Yingchun said recently.
In central Henan province, local tourism authorities
promoting a resort scooped up mountain air and gave
away bags of it in downtown Zhengzhou, the provincial
capital. City dwellers greedily inhaled the air, and some
said they planned to visit the mountain resort to get more
than a lungful.
Chen Guangbiao, a recycling tycoon who briefly made
headlines with his abortive plan to purchase The New
York Times, has been selling fresh air in cans under his
“Good Person” brand.
Want one? They sell for $3 each on China’s online
bazaar of Taobao.
By Kelvin Chan
AP Business Writer
ONG KONG — A Shanghai collector has paid a
record $36 million for a rare Ming Dynasty cup
that’s touted as the “holy grail” of China’s art
world.
Several records have been set at Sotheby’s spring sales
in Hong Kong, continuing a trend of sky-high prices in the
art world driven by the newly super-rich buyers in China
and developing countries.
The dainty, white cup from the 15th century measures
just 3.1 inches in diameter and is known as a “chicken cup”
because it’s decorated with a rooster and hen tending to
their chicks. Sotheby’s describes the cup as having
flawless translucent sides with its lively scene painted
continuously around them.
It was made during the reign of the Ming Dynasty’s
Chenghua Emperor, who ruled from 1465 to 1487.
Sotheby’s said only 17 such cups exist, with four in private
hands and the rest in museums.
“There’s no more legendary object in the history of
Chinese porcelain,” said Nicholas Chow, Sotheby’s deputy
chairman for Asia. “This is really the holy grail when it
comes to Chinese art.”
The previous record for Chinese porcelain was set in
2010 when a gourd-shaped Qianlong vase sold for $32.4
million, Sotheby’s said.
For such a prized item, bidding was limited to a handful
of collectors and when the winning bid was hammered
down at HK$250 million ($32.2 million), the standing-
room-only crowd applauded. The auction house’s commis-
sion brought the total to HK$281.2 million ($36.1 million).
A pre-sale estimate was a maximum HK$300 million.
The auction house’s Hong Kong spring sales show the
region’s super-rich are still spending despite fluctuating
economic growth. At the sale of modern and contemporary
Asian art, Asian collectors bought nine of the top 10
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Ming Dynasty ‘chicken cup’ sells for record $36 million
H
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
PRICEY PORCELAIN. The Meiyintang “Chicken Cup” from the
Chinese Ming Dynasty is displayed during a press conference in Hong
Kong. Sotheby’s said Shanghai collector Liu Yiqian won the bidding for
the “Chicken Cup,” which is decorated with a rooster, hen, and their
chicks. Including the auction house’s commission, the price for the small
cup totalled HK$281.2 million ($36.1 million), which Sotheby’s said is a
world record price for Chinese porcelain. The previous record for Chinese
porcelain was set in 2010 when a gourd-shaped Qianlong vase sold for
$32.4 million, according to Sotheby’s. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
priciest lots.
“Definitely the mood in Hong Kong at this moment, in
Asia, is buoyant,” said Chow.
Sotheby’s identified the buyer as collector Liu Yiqian,
and Chow said the cup would likely go on display in Liu’s
Long Museum in Shanghai, which he and his wife, Wang
Wei, opened in 2012.
Liu is a middle-school dropout who drove a cab before
becoming a multimillionaire. Forbes estimates his fortune
at $900 million, making him the 200th richest person in
China.
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