First Latin American art gallery in China

Mil Gotas opens the first gallery dedicated exclusively to Latin American art in China

The person in charge of the Gallery is Guillermo Bravo, an Argentine writer and editor who has lived in China for years. The director of the Mil Gotas bookstore also says that the interest of the Chinese in Latin American art is greater than that shown by local artists in the culture of the Asian country.

China now has a gallery dedicated exclusively to Latin American art. It is called Mil Gotas and was inaugurated in June of last year. It is located in Songzhuang, a unique suburb of the city of Beijing. The space also functions as an artist's residence and seeks to generate a point of cultural exchange between Latin Americans and Chinese.
The inauguration

The starting point dates back to 2017, when the Mil Gotas bookstore, the first in Spanish in China, opened its doors in the Asian giant.

Guillermo Bravo, owner of the bookstore and the main person responsible for the innovative project, conceived the idea of expanding the proposal, always based on the concept of “China in Spanish, Spanish in China.”

The Gallery opened in mid-June 2024. The space was designed to accommodate various artistic expressions from Latin America, including painting, sculpture and installations.

The first exhibition housed works by 26 artists from Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Ecuador, Spain and China. Some of them were Washington Cucurto, an Argentine writer and editor, Fernanda Laguna, a visual artist and writer also from Argentina, and Cindy Cal, a Uruguayan who lives in China.

In statements to the press, Bravo explained that the Gallery plans to present between 2 and 3 exhibitions per year, usually in relation to a specific theme. He also said that they were thinking of inviting the Brazilian ceramist Raquel de Sa.
A meeting point

Mil Gotas is located in Songzhuang, a suburb of Beijing that decades ago became known for attracting the attention of artists and for becoming a space for workshops and galleries.

Bravo explains that, back in the 90s, the neighborhood was synonymous with freedom and joy for artists. And that, although it has recently lost a bit of its original essence, it still maintains much of it.

The Mil Gotas Gallery also functions as a residence. It is designed as a space for all those artists who want to live the experience of a stay in Songzhuang.

For both the Gallery's exhibitions and the residences, the main objective is the same: to create a bridge, a space for exchange between the cultures of China and Latin American countries.

The idea is that the links are not unidirectional, but that the exchange is reciprocal: that the Chinese learn about Latin American art and that the Latin Americans immerse themselves in the culture and customs of the Asian country.
Present and future

Guillermo Bravo was born in Argentina in 1982 and has been living in China for years. There he plans to continue the growth of his bookstore and also to expand the proposal of the recently opened gallery.

He knows that the project is just beginning and that progress will be gradual. But he conceives a long-term strategy that bets on Latin American artists who are interested in exhibiting and residing.

At the same time, he plans to expand the proposal by inviting writers, filmmakers and artists from other disciplines. In addition to enabling a multicultural meeting, the idea is for creators to concretize their experience by generating work.
A growing interest

For the cultural exchange between China and Latin America in terms of art to be reciprocal and equitable, Bravo maintains that the key lies in focusing attention on what is happening on the part of Latin Americans.

He indicates that the curiosity of the Chinese for the works of Latin American artists is greater than that of the latter for the former.

Guillermo argues that China's interest in Latin American art is significant and shows constant growth.

He adds that this interest is not only focused on contemporary art. On the contrary, the Chinese are also attracted by indigenous art and by native and colonial roots. And, ultimately, by the way in which the various expressions reflect the Latin American lifestyle today.

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