Art Beijing 2007, the contemporary art fair, lifted its curtain on Wednesday in Beijing, turning the new hall of Beijing's National Agricultural Exhibition Center into a festival gala for Asian contemporary artists from China, Japan and Korea and also presenting a grand stage for artists from the around the globe.

The fair has gathered more than 100 elite exhibitors from both home and abroad, with over 70 percent coming from Asian galleries, making it one of the largest collective shows of Asian contemporary arts so far.

Themed "the future of art", this art fair has staged numerous, fascinating and impressive works of art, in a large variety of artistic styles and focuses, with unique artistic techniques and modes of expression. Besides excellent art works from well established artists, new powers with avant garde art talent also are debuting their works, presenting a fresh representative force emerging in the field.

New developments in modern art are on display at this exhibition. "Contemporary" art is not simply limited to a specific time period; rather it stresses an innovative application of artistic techniques and bold employment of materials that goes beyond paper or canvas. Any medium may be used: plastics, hair or even eggshells. Modern art highlights modern concepts and reflects a profound understanding of contemporary life. Such art may be conveyed through the medium of painting or other myriad forms; sculpture, photography, etching, media presentations.

"As far as I am concerned, I want to tune my art into the tempo of the times and have it reflect my understanding of life," said painter Pian Shan, also the general director of Jixiangboju Art Center. He explained that one of his own works on display, a black-and-white reflective mirror art work, was based on a glimpse of a parade in Germany, "Everyone plays a role in the world, the time you look outward at the figures in the mirror, it may remind you to look inward at yourself". Painter Pian Shan added, "The art gallery may have to meet the demand of the market, but appreciation for art itself is forever free".

As demonstrated by the fair, in addition to new forms of Chinese art, generally, the idea of being contemporary is embodied by a harmonious integration of modern views with traditional elements. Take, for example, the merging of a traditional background with an ink landscape and add the extremely bright colors that are popular in China.

Compared with Chinese artwork, Korean contemporary art on display stresses materials. Works by the Korean artist Park Sung Tao, who is displaying a large collection of brilliant artworks, are all made with aluminum net.

Dong Mengyang, the director of this big event, commented: "We aim to make this fair a big platform for art, with which we can present to the world what we have in Asia."

He added, "There is no denying that we are focusing on the commercial side of art, in the hope that with skillful employment of this method, we can also boost non-commercial art."

(CRI.cn September 12, 2007)