Uli Sigg is not a name
that rings bells for most Americans, but for those in the know in the
international art community, he is an iconic collector of art from an unlikely
place.
Icarus Films announced
this past week that documentary filmmaker Michael Schindhelm’s oddly-titled
film, The Chinese Lives of Uli Sigg, will be making its domestic DVD
debut on July 17.
Sure, you can say that
Sigg was in the right place at the right time, but he saw the opportunity that
no one else recognized — an opportunity that literally didn’t exist. He was with the Schindler Group (elevators,
etc.) when China opened up in the early 1980s and developed both business
relationships with the Chinese and a successful operation for his employers …
but he also had an intense interest in local artists. No one else did!
As Schindhelm’s
documentary unfolds we learn that Uli Sigg began to collect art from the
unknown and unheralded “New Wave” of Chinese artists, which included the likes
of Ai Weiwei, Fang Lijun, Wang Guangyi and Cao Chong’en. Over the years he amassed a collection of
close to 2000 works from a wide array of Chinese artists (something in the
neighborhood of 300 individuals). The
film includes interviews with many of these artists.
His career wasn’t simply
pushing elevator systems for the Schindler Group and collecting art in his
spare time, he became a diplomat for Switzerland and served as the Ambassador
to China, North Korea and Mongolia!
And, he surprised
everyone when in 2012 he donated the great bulk of his collection to the M+
museum in Hong Kong!
The Chinese Lives of Uli Sigg is presented in a combination of English, German
and Mandarin with English subtitles.
Bonus features include
additional footage of Uli Sigg’s life in Beijing between 1982-1985.
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