Coming from a family that created two of France’s renowned haute couture fashion houses (Ted Lapidus and Torrent), Dominique Levy is more than familiar with the luxury sector. In 1983, she created the first startup company on the campus of the école des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris, with a focus on developing an extensive database for haute couture houses, enabling them to build their licensing businesses. In 1989, she became the business partner of Richard Attias, specializing in creating cultural, political, and economic events for luxury brands in France. In 1997, she launched a new enterprise, NCI, specializing in new technology. The company was responsible for building the first vocal telephone guide for all mobile phones of the museums of the city of Paris and the National Office of Historical Monuments in France. It was in 2006 when she and her husband, Sylvain Levy, created their private collection of Chinese Contemporary Art, entitled dslcollection. The aim of the collection is to promote the Chinese artistic scene, and to reach as much of the public as possible, through both traditional communication as well as digital technology. In 2014, dslcollection was recognized by Larry’s List as one of the top three most visible private collections online. In May this year, dslcollection also received the inaugural Asia Prize from The Art Newspaper.
Dominique Levy 出身于创建了法国两家著名高级时装品牌（Ted Lapidus 和 Torrent）的家族，对奢侈品行业非常熟悉。 1983 年，她在 école des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris 的校园内创建了第一家创业公司，专注于为高级时装屋开发一个广泛的数据库，使他们能够建立自己的授权业务。 1989年，她成为Richard Attias的商业伙伴，专门为法国奢侈品牌打造文化、政治和经济活动。 1997年，她创办了一家新企业NCI，专门研究新技术。该公司负责为巴黎市博物馆和法国国家历史古迹办公室的所有手机构建第一个语音电话指南。 2006 年，她和丈夫西尔万·列维 (Sylvain Levy) 创立了他们的中国当代艺术私人收藏，名为 dslcollection。该系列的目的是通过传统传播和数字技术推广中国艺术界，并尽可能多地接触公众。 2014 年，dslcollection 被 Larry’s List 评为网上最引人注目的三大私人收藏之一。今年五月，dslcollection 还获得了 The Art Newspaper 颁发的首届亚洲大奖。
Q: How and when did you start collecting art? Can you tell us a bit about the changes in the art market that you’ve witnessed over the years as a collector, and how they have affected your collecting?
问：您是如何以及何时开始收藏艺术品的？你能告诉我们一些关于你作为收藏家多年来见证的艺术市场的变化，以及它们如何影响你的收藏吗？
A: For more than 25 years, collecting has been a long and exciting journey that took us from mid-20th century furniture and pictures to Chinese Contemporary Art and the digital age. The art world is changing drastically. The players are not at all the same. They now come from all over the world. The way people collect is totally different, with an important part played by auctions and fairs. The reasons behind collecting are now more about money, trophies, and lifestyle.
Directly, it has not affected the way we collect, which is based on spending a lot of time visiting studios, galleries, and museums. Indirectly, we are facing much bigger competition on works of great quality.
A：25 年来，收藏一直是一段漫长而激动人心的旅程，将我们从 20 世纪中叶的家具和图画带到了中国当代艺术和数字时代。艺术世界正在发生翻天覆地的变化。玩家根本不一样。他们现在来自世界各地。人们收藏的方式完全不同，其中重要的一部分是拍卖和集市。收藏背后的原因现在更多是关于金钱、奖杯和生活方式。
Q: How do you decide which artworks to add to your collection? Can you also tell us about the decision to replace some of the works?问：您如何决定将哪些艺术品添加到您的收藏中？您能否也告诉我们更换部分作品的决定？
A: A key concept of the collection is our limited acquisition policy. Based on the idea of “less is more,” we cap the number of works in the collection to around 250 to 300, a self-imposed limitation vigorously held to reflect the changing times and tastes of the owners.
Whenever we decide that a work is no longer relevant, we take it out of the collection and add new ones. This way, we make sure that the collection stays fresh. It is very much an organic process, where the collection is continually building, sculpting, gathering, and redefining itself against the dynamic world of Contemporary Art in China.
答：该系列的一个关键概念是我们的有限采购政策。基于“少即是多”的理念，我们将收藏的作品数量限制在 250 到 300 件左右，这是一个自我强加的限制，以反映所有者不断变化的时代和品味。
每当我们决定某件作品不再相关时，我们就会将其从馆藏中取出并添加新作品。通过这种方式，我们可以确保该系列保持新鲜。这是一个非常有机的过程，在这个过程中，藏品不断地建立、雕刻、收集，并根据中国当代艺术的动态世界重新定义自己。
Q: Today, Chinese collectors have become a significant force in the international art market. How do you think Chinese collectors are different from Western collectors?
问：如今，中国收藏家已成为国际艺术市场的重要力量。您认为中国收藏家与西方收藏家有何不同？
A: I think that there are fewer and fewer differences. All collectors belong to a global world: they go to the same galleries, fairs, and auction houses to build their collections.
A：我觉得差异越来越少了。所有的收藏家都属于一个全球化的世界：他们去同样的画廊、展览会和拍卖行来建立他们的收藏。
Q: Your new dslcollection ebook shows an impressive collection of 350 works. With so many new museums opening in China every year, have you thought about establishing physical museums at some point?
问：您的新 dslcollection 电子书展示了令人印象深刻的 350 件作品。中国每年都有那么多新博物馆开张，您是否考虑过在某个时候建立实体博物馆？
A: Opening a space is a gesture of generosity, and a way to serve the community in general. To do so means investing a lot of money and energy. Consequently, I have great respect for the collectors who are opening these spaces. What is important is how, in the long-term, you can sustain it. We have decided not to open a museum for a number of reasons.
答：开放空间是一种慷慨的姿态，也是一种服务社区的方式。这样做意味着要投入大量的资金和精力。因此，我非常尊重开放这些空间的收藏家。重要的是，从长远来看，你如何维持它。出于多种原因，我们决定不开设博物馆。
Financially speaking, it is a big commitment, especially because you are in competition with public institutions. For example, in China, a public institution does not have to pay taxes on an imported work. To be able to attract an audience, you need to have temporary exhibitions, and this becomes another big issue.
从财务上讲，这是一个很大的承诺，尤其是因为你在与公共机构竞争。例如，在中国，事业单位不必为进口作品纳税。为了吸引观众，你需要有临时展览，这又是一个大问题。
That brings me to a distinguishing feature of the dslcollection: our strong online presence. Rather than relying on “bricks and mortar,” we follow the principle of “bricks and clicks.” Today, by mixing a certain number of tools, like loaning works or using the digital world, you can naturally reach a very large audience in a different way, without having the burden of managing a fixed place.
这让我想到了 dslcollection 的一个显着特征：我们强大的在线影响力。我们遵循“砖块和点击”的原则，而不是依赖“实体”。今天，通过混合一定数量的工具，比如借出作品或使用数字世界，你可以自然地以不同的方式接触到非常多的观众，而无需管理固定地点的负担。
We are constantly trying to find new ways to share the collection, through social media, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as through our virtual exhibitions. We were also one of the first private collections to develop an iPad app. All of this reflects our vision for a nomadic collection. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that the more we go digital, the more we need museums. The problem is: What is the definition of a museum in the 21st century?
我们一直在尝试通过社交媒体（例如 Facebook 和 LinkedIn）以及我们的虚拟展览来寻找分享收藏的新方式。我们也是最早开发 iPad 应用程序的私人收藏之一。所有这些都反映了我们对游牧系列的愿景。尽管如此，我坚信我们越是数字化，就越需要博物馆。问题是：21 世纪博物馆的定义是什么？
Q: From your perspective, what is the role of a collector in the art world? What kinds of relationships do collectors have with museums, galleries, auction houses, art fairs, etc.?
问：在您看来，收藏家在艺术界的角色是什么？收藏家与博物馆、画廊、拍卖行、艺术博览会等有什么样的关系？
A: I think that, more and more, the collector has a crucial role, firstly because of money. But what is more important is the fact is that only collectors take risks to collect emerging artists.
In China, and more generally in the emerging art world, the collectors are the only ones supporting the Contemporary Art scenes.
As for relationships, I think the art world is like a chain where everybody needs everybody, it’s like “an eco-system.” •
A：我认为，越来越多的收藏家起着至关重要的作用，首先是因为钱。但更重要的是，只有收藏家才会冒险收藏新兴艺术家。
在中国，尤其是在新兴艺术界，收藏家是唯一支持当代艺术的人。
至于关系，我觉得艺术界就像一个链条，每个人都需要每个人，就像一个“生态系统”。 •
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