ARTINFO China will present a series of interviews with the people behind the galleries, art spaces, and institutions in Beijing, which have played significant roles in promoting Chinese contemporary art to the global community. Recently we visited Rosario Scarpato and Monica Piccioni, founders of offiCina in Beijing's 798 Art District — an Italian exhibiting space that focuses on visual art projects. Since its launch in 2002, offiCina has hosted a wide range of programs showcasing both Chinese and international contemporary art. The founding duo just curated the exhibition "Sensitive City"  for the Italian Pavilion at the Shanghai Exposition, which was on view through June 30. Now, they are focusing on a five-year survey of their past curatorial projects.

ARTINFO: When did you come to China? What was your first experience like?

Rosario Scarpato: I first came here to study Chinese in 1988 on a government scholarship after obtaining a degree in foreign studies and politics from the University of Naples. At that time, Monica was attending an exchange program in China. We met on a flight from Rome to Beijing via East Berlin. I returned to Italy after my study and started working for a company doing business with China, for which I often traveled to China. As a foreigner, I remember it was quite challenging to find a position during the 90s in China.

Monica Piccioni: And the art industry was still at its early stage of development, so we started working in other industries in China.

RS: Indeed. When I came back to China in 1994, I found the country was more open to the world and had a growing pool of jobs for internationals. I started working for some Italian companies and got interested in Chinese culture and especially contemporary Chinese art. Through my visits to private art exhibitions in garages and private residences, I got to know the artists and felt the desire to work in the arts in China.The late 90s saw the transformation of the contemporary art scene into a national movement supported by the government following the country's entry into the World Trade Organization. I started to seek a way to align my business experience with my interest in Chinese contemporary art, which eventually led to the launch of offiCina in 2002. I started curating shows and collaborating with various institutions, curators, and organizations, both in and outside China. At the 2004 China International Gallery Exposition, we got to know the directors of Gallery Continua (which has a space in the 798), and helped them establish connections with local curators, artists, and art professionals and showed them around the 798 Art District, which had yet to be fully commercialized at the time. The 798 has served as a platform for promoting private international art projects like ours in Beijing.

Monica, what is your background?

MP: I majored in Chinese studies and comparative literature at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1994. I was in Beijing for my studies in 1988 and again in 1991-1992. Prior to co-founding offiCina, I worked for two years at the Italian Embassy in Beijing and later consulted with the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Italian Trade Commission. 

What is the Meaning of “offiCina”?

MP: Officina is the Italian term for “workshop” as we meant to build a space where art and culture could be fostered. We employ wordplay by capitalizing the letter C — the name consists of another word Cina, which means China in Italian. We were originally inspired by the short-lived avant-garde literary periodical founded by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1959. offiCina, in concept, parallels a laboratory where one’s vision is realized through experimentation.

How do you seek a balance in operating an art space that is neither a commercial gallery nor a non-profit institution in the conventional sense?

RS: We invite artists to show their works at our space, which involves the entire process of exhibition coordination, catalog production, and even attending art fairs. But we don’t do marketing campaigns for the purpose of selling the works. Unlike the average commercial gallery, all the art projects at offiCina are funded by a variety of sponsors like private or public organizations and even artists themselves. The collaboration, which usually lasts for six months, sometimes develops from artists’ proposals. Upon concluding the collaboration, the artist can choose to extend for another period of time, which we don’t usually do as we hope the artist can assume more control of their career outside the gallery system. In recent years, we have also offered advisory services for both seasoned and novice art collectors. For the former, we introduce them to the artists and plan visits to artists' studios. As for the young collectors, we assist in starting their collecting experience and building up their collection.

MP: Our curatorial criteria are based on preference, rather than the market trend; preference is what dictates our decisions. For instance, we've shown some Italian Minimalist works in Beijing, knowing they are not profitable in the Chinese market. Yet we feel really fulfilled when these works come to be of academic interest to local art historians and critics for their scholarly research and studies. Perhaps people are just not familiar with these works — diversity in art is sometimes made possible by persistence.

What are the longterm goals for offiCina and your upcoming projects?

RS: I think we will expand our coverage of contemporary art by incorporating other genres such as video, theater, dance and performance art. Our goal is to introduce contemporary Chinese art to other overseas communities and initiate dialogues with other institutions and media sources. Currently, we are working with curator Feng Boyi on a project for the Venice Biennale next year.