I had visited the Fotan studios several times but this year was the first time I came with my students. Frankly speaking, I didn't find much surprise, some works I think were not even comparable to those exhibited in graduation shows of various art schools; but my students, who were mostly newly exposed to Fotan and authentic artists' studios, found it quite eye-opening.
Firstly, industrial buildings were complete strangers to them, most of them hadn't ever taken that kind of elevators or walked on those metal corrugated flooring before. The stuffy smell, the dark creepy stairs, the half-domestic-and-half-working area were all new adventures to the students. Secondly, that was their first encounter with so many professional artists, such as Man Fung-yi and Danny Lee. Listening to their own introduction of their work and their art-making process greatly enhances students' interest and appreciation ability.
Other than art promotion and education to the public, what I noticed was that name card exchanging was taking a more important role in the whole open studios programme. This was no doubt a good way for arts enthusiasts to build up a stronger network, but on the other hand, I should say that some particular artists or studio managers were there just to entertain potential buyers. You can tell the obvious difference when the artists greeted a potential buyer and when he met just the public.
Anyway, let's not forget that most studios are accessible to the public all year round, as long as we make advanced appointment with the studio, we are usually welcome to pay it a visit, not to mention that some studios actually organise solo or collective exhibitions regularly. The annual open studios programme is just the most significant event which unites almost all artists in that community for a big show. We should always make good use of these well-established public resources and treasure and support our local art development.
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