During the DIAF's first 3 years (2004-2006), the festival saw a wide array of artistic and cultural events covering many disciplines of both Chinese and international contemporary art: visual arts, architecture, design, dance, theatre, performances, music & sound, movies and documentaries. Because of the quality and the diversity of its programs, the DIAF has become recognised as a leading authority and pioneer in the dialogue between Chinese and international contemporary artists.

From 2004 to 2006, the DIAF experienced a dramatic expansion. The number of artists involved in the festival has grown from 96 to 470. The number of Institutional and Corporate partners has also increased from 15 to 60. At the same time, the number of annual visitors has doubled from 80,000 to 160,000.

In 2006, the DIAF received widespread media coverage both in the general and specialised press, within China and beyond. By the time of the 2007 DIAF, the festival was already known worldwide and generating quite a buzz. You might be interested to know that by googling "DIAF+Beijing" in Chinese, English, French, the search will produce more than 375,000 results.

The "Dangdai International Art Festival" (DIAF) is not only the first ever contemporary art festival in China, but also the only art festival in China to take an international and multidisciplinary approach to contemporary art, incorporating the work of over fifty nationalities.

In June 2007 the world's most prestigious Art Fair "Art Basel", in collaboration with Yishu: "Journal of Contemporary art", produced a special supplement profiling the Chinese contemporary art scene. In this issue, Maya Kovskaya wrote: "The DIAF put Dashanzi 798 on the global map, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to the factory, which has grown from a tiny handful of artist studios and galleries in 2003 to the hub of the Chinese art world in 2007."