Waiting to board a plane can be long and boring. Having a place relax or enjoy some entertainment would be great for tired travelers wanting to take a break from their busy lives or long journeys. What could be better than a place to feed your eyes and your mind? And one cool way to do that is with art.

 Art works are a common sight in many airports throughout Europe and North America. The Netherland's Rijksmuseum has long cooperated with Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to present some of its domestic masterpieces. And early this year, Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris held an exhibition of 50 paintings and sculptures including Rodin's most famous work The Thinker.

In China, as a part of the Shanghai Biennale Reactivation in January, On The Way Home - Pudong International Airport Special Exhibition presented contemporary art works including paintings, installations, and videos from over 40 artists who have experience living abroad.

Two months later, Beijing Capital International Airport also held an exhibition of pictures and costumes to promote traditional Chinese operas. Although airports in China are still at the beginning stages, opportunities for such exhibitions are opening up gradually.

A difficult start

Zendai Art, the company that owns Shanghai Himalayas Museum, was first to cooperate with Pudong International Airport to stage art exhibitions. Shen Qibin of Zendai Art who has been closely associated with Shanghai Himalayas Museum since its opening in 2005 and also one of the curators of On The Way Home, was the person who encouraged the collaboration between Zendai Art and Pudong airport.

But even with Shen's help, for another curator of the exhibition, Xiao Ge, it still seemed like "mission impossible." Xiao and her team obtained over 30 permission stamps quicker than expected, but that was just the start of a long process. Xiao told the Global Times that every single step or minor change has to go through a long and frustrating procedure. Previous exhibitions in airports involving sculptures and paintings were not as technically difficult as this one, which required the installation of cables and electricity for video works.

The airport must maintain control of every detail such as the content of the art, where to put the cables or how many seats are set up for viewers. Xiao said the endless censoring process and some unexpected situations nearly brought her to tears.  

Qiu Zhijie, the curator of this year's Shanghai Biennale, sympathized with Xiao's predicament: "The difficulties are tremendous. Usually you can hire workers to help the preparation. In the airport, each worker must have proof of no criminal record from his local police office just to get into the terminal… But anyone who does this need to solve such problems. That's the rule."

Still, it was a breakthrough for both the airport and the artists because Zendai's exhibition took a year to get started while On The Way Home only took half a month for preparation.

A possible model

"We are doing an experimental project and we are doing it with idealism. But to turn it into a real trend, a proper business model with mutual benefits is essential," said Xiao.

Qiu told the Global Times that the Hong Kong International Airport is doing well. In Hong Kong, artists and museums have agent companies that help keep building cooperation with the airport.

Art in airports belongs in the category of public art. Danny Yung, a Hong Kong artist and stage director, said in an interview with Chinavisual.com that public space should have its own independent vision and interaction.

Yung finds that in the Chinese mainland, public space is still fully under government control whereas in Hong Kong it is more like a topic for business or third party organizations.

It is easy to understand that professional agents or third parties would be able to streamline the process; therefore, the Hong Kong model may be a good one for the mainland to follow.

However, Qiu feels that airport services in China are too problematic as a whole, and it is too early to discuss such issues since art exhibitions are only a small part of an airport's operation.

Transporting arts

Airports, train stations and subways are transporting centers where large numbers of people walk by every day. Along with a constant influx of people to serve as an audience, these environments also produce their own set of troubles. One of the reasons that exhibitions in airports are so difficult is that many people like to touch the artworks or hold small exhibits in their hands.

Liu Junping, a researcher of public art at China Central Academy of Fine Arts, finds that the characteristics of airports, train stations and subways encourage interactions between art and viewers. He gave an example about a contemporary art project related to the fog in Beijing in which artists offered masks to people walking past. "An airport is a place where people walk around, which is very suitable for such interactions," said Liu.

He also said this kind of interaction fits into the current trend in which arts are generally getting closer to the public. "People don't like things that are over their heads. They like things that can be connected to life," said Liu.

Early last month, a girl who painted animals on the bald parts of trees became very popular in China. For Liu, the case proves that creativity should not be limited to the artwork itself.

"Her paintings are nothing outstanding or dramatic but the place where she chose to paint and the comparison and connection between the art and the place was creative," said Liu.

Recently, some international awards for displays of public art were handed out in Shanghai. Media covering the event reported that Shanghai is planning a huge underground project that will result in the biggest public art space in the city before 2020.

Besides all the difficulties along the way, the development of public spaces is moving forward. As much as we want to see more exhibitions on the way, we can only hope the content in these transportation settings can match the scale and quality of the buildings.