GK Alumni Talks | Ten Years · Ten People: David Tung

GUANGHUA

10th

Anniversary

2014-2024

KELLOGG

	GK Alumni Talks David Tung GK01, Class of 2016

As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Guanghua-Kellogg EMBA program (referred to as GK program) in 2024, we reflect on the journey from GK01 to GK10, where our esteemed GKers have consistently made a significant impact with low ego, both in China and on the global stage. Taking this opportunity, we are going to interview 10 distinguished alumni representatives in a special GK Alumni Talk Series. The interview will delve into the enduring legacy of the GK program, management insight, industry foresight, challenges and successes, etc.

Ten years, Ten People. These ten GKers will form a vivid picture of the GK community, which is also an interpretation of their profound impact on the era.

This time, we invited alumnus David Tung (GK01), who is the Director of Lisson GalleryChina, which's a well-established European art gallery. David Tung focused on promoting and developing contemporary artists in the Mainland of China. He is committed to introducing international art to China and establishing close ties with the local art ecosystem to promote diverse artistic exchanges.

GK Alumni Talks

David Tung

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WHO I AM

I’m David Tung, I’m a GK01 alumnus. I’ve been working in the art industry for over 20 years specifically here in the Mainland of China, promoting and developing contemporary artists, specifically in this region and also bringing them to global audience. 

PERCEPTION BEYOND

The fundamental question is, how do you engage with the world？

I think we're so much invested in the idea of investment. Is there a financial return on the art? Is there a market? But I think those are other questions that we need to ask. They're not the fundamental questions, right？The fundamental question is, how do you engage with the world that is around you？How do the other people that you know, or your business partners or their business partners engage in that world？

Also in terms of our lifestyle, in terms of what we do for leisure, has changed a lot over the past 20 years as well. There is a very different kind of change there, and I think we as the business leaders of China, also need to present ourselves, and also understand how different business leaders globally engage with the world.

Art is one of those aspects which is very very important. It goes beyond culture. That kind of dialogue, that kind of communication is about understanding of how people perceive the world. When you have those dialogues, you get to know people more, you get to know people better. You don't need to know and devote a lot of time or energy to it, but it is part of being a global citizen and part of being someone who can engage with the world in different ways.

DIGITAL IMPACTS

We're entering into a homogenous world that AI has been instituting and feeding us, but AI doesn’t replace the experiences.

I think a lot of people speak about how AI is going to impact every industry including arts. My statement is that AI has already been impacting what we do and how we see things. So we're actually entering into a very homogenous world, that's based not on our experiences, but really what AI has been instituting and feeding us to see.

I think this has a tremendous impact on our world. Because when we look at young artists, when we look at the current art production as well, there's no real kind of statement, there's no real kind of position from each artist that identifies them as uniquely. Because we're all reading and we're all looking at the same material and we're all trying to translate that way.

So I think the experience of artists, which includes that kind of randomness，that kind of unforeseen or serendipitous kind of encounters, really goes into the fundamental event that changes how we view the world and changes the experience of it. So when we go into art exhibitions, there's an opportunity to see the world in different ways, aside from what we see on Instagram. The exhibition even challenges us to say, hey, there's different ways of looking at the world. So going back to your question about digitalization, it's an amazing tool for reaching markets. It's an amazing tool for engaging with audiences but doesn't replace the experiences.

GK IMPRINT

It has been very vital for me to understand what are the next steps, and what future possibilities for the business here.

I realized after working in the art industry for over 10 years, I needed some kind of grounding in business understanding. You need to be prepared. And you need to make sure your decision-making is sound, or at least you have the right support, the right people around you where you could always tap into and make sure that you get the feedback you need.

Fortunately, at that time I was looking at Guanghua（GK Program）, very very first class. I thought this is something I cannot miss and having the opportunity to both be with one of the leading institution in China, Guanghua, and also amazing school like Kellogg.

And also being able to see the market a little bit more clearly, although I’ve been living in China for a long time, to be able to understand how other business leaders think and try to understand how governments think in China and how that impacts and plays into every industry, has been very vital for me to understand what are the next steps, what are the future possibilities for the business here. I think is an amazing opportunity. It's an amazing experience and I think it's a challenging one, but it drives you to really be better.

More to Come

GK Alumni Talks

In this conversation, we deeply felt David Tung's confidence in taking Chinese art to the world. Meanwhile, in today's world where digitalization and artificial intelligence are reshaping our perception, David Tung, with his keen insight, pointed out the profound impact of technology on the art field. He stressed that although technology has changed our way of work, the true value of art lies in its uniqueness and creativity, which cannot be replaced by technology. He encouraged us to embrace an open mindset to understand and appreciate art, and to adopt an innovative mindset to face the challenges of the globalization era.

Over a decade, a collection of ten remarkable individuals will converge to create a dynamic portrait of the GK alumni community. We eagerly anticipate the forthcoming insights from the GK Alumni Talks, as we collectively bear witness to the intellect and grace of our GK alumni.

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