DRC NO. 12
The Diplomatic Residence Compound, located on Jianguomenwai Avenue in Beijing's Chaoyang District, was constructed in 1971 to serve as offices and living spaces for foreign diplomatic missions, international news organizations, and various international bodies. In the 1970s and 1980s, the living rooms of diplomats and foreign residents in this compound emerged as the first venues for contemporary art and other underground cultural activities. Designed as a segregated foreign community, the Diplomatic Residence Compound has historically acquired a borderline and extraterritorial character.
Established in 2015 within this unique enclave, DRC No. 12 is an independent art space dedicated to showcasing site-specific projects from artists whose practices are centered on critical examinations of history, socio-cultural conditions, geopolitical dynamics, and conceptual and experimental explorations. Its projects often aim to transgress curatorial norms and challenge institutional paradigms of exhibition-making, tightly integrating the historical and social context of the Diplomatic Residence Compound. With its distinctive approach, DRC No. 12 endeavors to interrogate the meaning and methodologies of contemporary art while creating a social space of art.
Board Members:
Gao Xiaoxue, Luan Shixuan, Wang Tuo, Zhang Sirui, Zhou Anran
Academic Committee: Huang Jiehua, Liu Xinyi, Ni Haifeng
Visiting by invitation only
E-mail: drc12.beijing@gmail.com
Space Plan
外交公寓12号空间平面图：
空间简介：
位于北京市朝阳区建国门外大街的外交公寓，始建于1971年，是中国第一片享受外交待遇，为外交使团、国际新闻机构和国际组织提供办公和生活场所的社区。二十世纪七八十年代，该社区外国居民的起居室一度成为当代艺术和其他地下文化活动的重要现场。外交公寓自起用以来一直被规划为一个隔离的异域社区，在历史上曾颇具边界和“治外法权”的特征。
外交公寓12号于2015年在这块历史性的非常地域内成立。作为一个独立的艺术空间，它致力于展示个体艺术家的特定场域项目，特别是那些基于对历史、社会文化状态、地缘政治境遇的批判性审视以及观念性和实验性探索为中心的艺术实践。其项目通常旨在超越常规的策展规范，挑战展览生产的制度范式，往往与外交公寓的历史和社会背景互为文本。外交公寓12号以其独特的方式与立场，试图拷问当代艺术的意义和方法，并致力于创造艺术的社会空间。
理事会理事：高晓雪、栾诗璇、王拓、张思锐、周安然
学术委员会：黄洁华、刘辛夷、倪海峰
参观采取邀请制
邮箱：drc12.beijing@gmail.com
