Artists Boycott Chinese Online Auction Site Hihey.com

HiheydotComimage

A group of over 100 Chinese artists has organized a collective boycott against the Chinese art online-shopping website Hihey.com and claim they will start a lawsuit.

On August 5, artists Wangjun Xin, Jian Zong, and other Chinese artists accused Hihey.com of withholding artworks after the 2012 Art Sanya festival, defaulting on payments from auction sales, and avoiding the artists’ phone calls over a two-year period. The artists organized a group on WeChat to protest, and at last count (August 6) included the names of 100 artists. All of them claim they were the victims of Hihey.com.

Zong says the group has a list of all the missing artworks and payments owed and would bring Hihey.com to Chaoyang district court on August 11.

Responding to the charges, Hihey released a statement today claiming that it was responsible for curating the 2012 Art Sanya festival and that all the exhibited artworks were handled by Huayu Group, the sponsor of this festival.

Hihey.com is a Chinese online auction website that was established in 2011. Its founder and chief executive, He Bin, has stated publicly that the firm made RMB23.4 million in revenue in its first year. The total revenue of the company up until now has totaled over RMB 100 million, according to a company press release. Last month, the website also claimed to have raised RMB100 billion in additional capital from Minsheng Bank.


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics