Don Gallery director Cheng Xixing on post-lockdown art in Shanghai

Cheng Xixing, founder and director of Don Gallery in Shanghai, discusses the gallery's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and its reopening. Founded in 2007 and located in the historic Blackstone Apartments in the West Bund art district, the gallery continued operations online, including sales and exhibition planning, without reducing staff. A new employee even joined the team. Initially planning to open the year's first exhibition concurrently with Art Basel Hong Kong, the pandemic forced a change. In mid-April, Don Gallery opened Xiang Zhenhua's solo show "Catalogue: Commoners, Kings and the Buddha," which attracted many visitors. The gallery also began collaborating with short-film production brand Yitiao to offer webcasting and increased social media sharing of artists' creative processes during quarantine. Cheng emphasizes the importance of physical space and face-to-face communication for experiencing art, but sees the pandemic as an opportunity for creativity and a chance to rethink life. She believes art can provide relief and make life more interesting, even if society would not worsen without it.