Artists have been evicted from the Luomahu – also known or Roma Lake – Art District on the northeast outskirts of Beijing by police ahead of its surprise demolition, Artforum reports. Earlier in the week, police removed artists from the Huantie Art District, close to the Chaochangdi gallery area which was developed by Ai Wei Wei and where last year the residents were given only two weeks to vacate before the area was partially demolished. Ai’s own studio in the Zuoyou Art District was bulldozed last year.
In both of these most recent eviction cases, artists were given seven days to collect and remove their belongings. Notices were displayed on the same day as evictions occurred in Huantie claiming the removal of its resident artists was in aid of flushing out organised crime and illegal building developments.
12 July 2019
