The recent opening of a State-run contemporary art institute has divided those in the art world. While many have welcomed the long-awaited governmental recognition of the genre, others are concerned that formal acceptance will see an end to creativity and freedom of expression.

The Contemporary Art Institute under the Chinese Academy of Arts was declared open November 13 and has triggered fierce debate within China's contemporary art community since.

According to Wang Wenzhang, deputy minister of culture, four years of preparation is behind the institute's formal establishment and the goal of the State-run organization is to boost the art genre.

Wang said that as an art form beginning in the 1980s, Chinese contemporary art has its own important place in today's Chinese culture and art world and he believes that the Contemporary Art Institute will help bring Chinese contemporary art into a new phase.

"Chinese contemporary art reflects Chinese modern life from every aspect including politics, economics and culture, which is quite valuable in recording the past 30 years since the reform and opening up policy," Wang said.

Ye Yongqing, artistic director of the institute, explained that the organization will dedicate itself to academic research as well as education on contemporary art. A systematic project to analyze and promote the contemporary art industry will also be established.

"Chinese contemporary art's success and development to a large extent has depended on independent artists and collectors, but from now on, there is a new platform to do all things related to contemporary art," Ye said.

Ye added that unlike many art organizations that gather artists together and benefit from works created by them, the institute is more like a think tank, with the hope that experts will contribute their ideas and reflections on Chinese contemporary art's development.

"Only with a formal institute is there hope that systematic research on contemporary art can be done," Ye said. Famous artist Luo Zhongli, also the director of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, has been appointed director of the new institute.

Luo's representative work is his oil painting Father created in the 1980s and he was nominated as the director due to his "great contributions to education and promoting Chinese contemporary art," according to Wang.

A handsome list of 21 artists including Fang Lijun, Zhang Xiaogang, Zeng Fanzhi, Yue Minjun, Cai Guoqiang and Xu Bing are among the enlisted experts of the Contemporary Art Institute. The list covers almost all of the most-renowned Chinese contemporary artists, many among them famous for their cynical explorations of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and its aftermath.

Many see the establishment of the new institute as an encouraging sign that the once marginalized contemporary art field is finally receiving the recognition and attention from the government that it deserves, hoping that further opportunities and funds will now be allocated to the field.

Director Luo Zhongli also expressed his confidence toward the future of the institute and its function in Chinese contemporary art, saying that systematic research would definitely help in building a sound academic atmosphere for the genre both now and for generations to come.

However, many artists and critics hold grave concerns about the new organization. Chen Danqing, painter and independent art critic, regards its establishment as an amnesty and enlistment from the government, worrying that State involvement will damage artists' independence.

"It is nothing but a gesture that these once eccentric artists have taken amnesty from the government," Chen said in his speech at the institute's opening ceremony.

He expressed hope that the artists would never be affected by so-called "mainstream" art and would always keep their own avant-garde spirits.

Famous independent art critic Zhu Qi holds the same view as Chen, sharply criticizing the 21 artists involved as giving up their position as independent thinkers and art creators as they have now listed with the government.

"The vitality of Chinese avant-garde art to a very large extent lies in its criticism toward society and even the government and without such a spirit it is hard to say whether there will be still people interested in it," Zhu said.

"Most of the enlisted artists became famous due to their Political Pop or Cynical Realism works that often explored problems existent in society," Zhu continued, "but they are now included in an institute held by the government, where I'm afraid they will lose their independence in artistic creation."

Several of the 21 artists involved have expressed their opinions, saying that their integrity and independence would never be effected by their position as experts of the institution. Many of them added that the involvement of government in the previously neglected art form gives a chance for contemporary art to reach more people, not only those in a small circle.

"I think we can expect that the institute will do meaningful things for Chinese contemporary art," said artist Zhou Chunya. "Anyway, it at least reveals that contemporary art is being embraced by the government which chose to ignore it for so long."