TCG Nordica: Challenging Yunnan’s Artists

While we often focus on organizations that help the disadvantaged, SVG also has great respect for those working to develop community through culture. Today’s post features an influential group that nurtures Kunming’s artist community, while encouraging them to value humanity.

For the past ten years, China’s cities have begun to see small but vibrant artist communities spring up in abandoned factory parks and leaky, rundown buildings. These enclaves have gained a following with Chinese and foreign visitors showing an interest in the growing art market, but the newness of the movement has brought with it some challenges.

Based in Kunming, Helen Wu and Anna Mellergård noticed that the city’s growing art scene was a group of individual artists in small, isolated groups rather than a thriving community. Additionally, while artists were making good art, many could not express themselves clearly and had few opportunities to interact with more established international artists. Helen, a Chinese businesswoman and self-described art appreciator, and Anna, a Scandinavian poet, decided to change that by opening TCG Nordica a multi-faceted art space in the heart of Kunming’s Chuang Ku/LOFT art district.