Does anyone have any up to date information on where I can find the local art sellers or an art district around town?

I'm not after traditional chinese paintings/scrolls, rather contemporary art from locals, ex pats or whoever!

Thanks in advance

There are a couple of Chinese galleries near Nordica. Think in thousands of rmb though.

Tai Project (listed in Gokunming) is a good place to start. They do a new contemporary show about once a month, and they also have lots of works from past shows/young local artists in stock. Their current show is pretty good.

The owner, Liu Lifen, knows everyone in the local scene, and if you're nice to her, she might be able to point you to other sellers.

MuYu Bar (listed in Gokunming, but apparently closing quite soon) offers its wall space to local artists. The art there is a bit hit and miss, but generally quite inexpensive.

Yuansheng Fang (listed in Gokunming and right next to Nordica) also sells works by young local artists. They'll usually have one show's works hanging in the gallery space, and some of their inventory scattered around the restaurant, with more in storage.

It seems that the big artist neighborhood these days is Bainian Mingri Chengshi (百年明日城市), out by Huangtupo. A lot of artists live there, but I'm not sure if there are any galleries or places to buy. With the right introductions, you might be able to spend the day visiting the various artist studios around the apartment complex.

Fantastic info Xiefei...thanks so much!