Guy Ullens beams from ear to ear under the vaulted roof of a giant, ground-breaking new centre for contemporary art that the Belgian and his wife, Myriam, have set up in Beijing. 'These are probably the most exciting days of our lives,' says Ullens, a former sugar baron turned art collector and philanthropist.
Art mavens expect the opening of the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (Ucca) to mark a fresh stage in the red-hot world of mainland China's modern art scene, with the Ullens determined to offer an alternative to a wave of commercialism that has overtaken the scene in tandem with ballooning prices in Hong Kong and overseas markets.
Paris-based art critic and curator Fei Dawei, the new artistic director of the 8,000 square metre Ucca, echoes Ullens' sense of excitement and idealism. 'We are in the process of realising our dream, our passion for contemporary Chinese art,' says Fei. 'It is a passion we share with Chinese artists and we will be achieving it together.'
Opening on Monday in a disused Bauhaus-style factory in Beijing's voguish 798 arts district, Ucca is a museum in all but name, albeit a private one. Crucially, according to its founders and directors, it is not-for-profit. Ullens declined to name the size of the investment, made through the Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation, set up in Switzerland in 2002. However, senior art adviser Jan Debbaut says: 'We have the resources of Guy and Myriam [Ullens], which are, to put it simply, generous for an institution like us.'
Despite its philanthropic status, Ucca is no amateur operation: Thursday's soft opening of the mainland's first international standard arts centre was said to be a slick affair. Outside in the district's narrow streets, half a dozen numbered black Audis marked with Ucca's distinctive red, black and white logo purred as they waited for VIPs. The mainland has no clear laws governing charitable or not-for-profit activity of this kind, but that did not dissuade the couple. 'That was our deal,' Ullens shrugs.
The centre will also include a restaurant and a shop. 'That will be the way to organise ourselves and make some money,' Ullens says.