"If you want to take the lead in this area, you have to be professional and know the international game rules," Wang concludes.
That might explain why neither the Shanghai Spring Art Salon or Shanghai Art Fair, after years of operating, didn't have much significant impact on the international art stage.
"You can't just consider the profits from selling the exhibition booths each year," Wang points out. "True, the revenue in running an art fair largely comes from that, but once you screw it up, rumors will quickly spread. Then who will come next year?"
Wang confesses that building the image of the art fair is what they are focusing on at the moment. Besides attracting overseas collectors to CIGE, their vision of the fair is to cater to the interests of potential Chinese clients.
"Some Chinese entrepreneurs are now very interested in buying artwork," she says. "We need to get in touch with them and give them both advice and confidence."
Noticing the steps made by CIGE recently, the Shanghai Art Fair has decided to "fight back."
At the beginning of this year, Shanghai Art Fair announced to the public that it will work together with the Italian Bologna Art Fair in September to launch a new art fair - SH Contemporary - an elite art fair, copying faithfully that highly successful European art fair.
"It will become one of the top art fairs not only in China but in the whole world, comparable to the likes of Basle in Switzerland and Frieze in London," says Zhou Tiehai, a coordinator of the art fair in Shanghai. "We have an experienced overseas team running the fair."
According to him, many top galleries around the world have reserved their exhibition booths at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, a Russian-styled building in the downtown area.
However, some galleries are beginning to complain that it's hard for them to "squeeze" into the fair.
"We heard about the news and tried to apply several times," says Helina Cheung, owner of iPreciation Gallery in Singapore. "But they only chose one Singaporean gallery. We are quite disappointed that we lost the chance."
The outcome of the competition between SH Contemporary and CIGE is still too early to predict at the moment.
"We don't think it will affect our fair," says Wang. "Frankly speaking, I am doubtful whether a fair could hit the art circle without a professional local team. Sometimes the situation in China is different."
Zhou has a simple reply: "Then we will just wait and see."
Shanghai Spring Art Salon
Date: April 17, 7-9pm (preview); April 18-22, 10am-6pm (exhibition)
Venue: 4/F, ShanghaiMart, 99 Xingyi Rd
Admission: 25 yuan
China International Gallery Exposition 2007
Date: May 2, 2-10pm (VIP preview); May 3-6, 9am-5pm (exhibition)
