When French President Emmanuel Macron made his diplomatic visit to China in April this year, he brought with him more than just political talks. He reignited the vibrant flame of cultural exchanges between China and France, demonstrating the countries’ shared commitment to fostering cultural understanding and collaboration.
Over the decades, China and France have cultivated a rich tapestry of cultural exchanges, and this year is no different. A notable highlight of this year’s cultural calendar was the 2023 Sino-French cultural festival, known as the Croisements Festival. Officially launched during Macron’s visit, the festival has since spread its artistic wings across over 20 Chinese cities, sweeping audiences into a whirlwind of sensory exploration and artistic discovery.
Since its inception in 2006, the Croisements Festival has served as a symbol of the fruitful cultural relationship between China and France. This year’s installment offers an assortment of artistic activities, from music and theater to film and visual arts, each one acting as a thread weaving together the cultural fabric of the two nations.
Past events have left their indelible mark on the cultural landscape too. Back in December 2012, renowned Chinese sculptor Wu Weishan‘s work “Nature and Humanity in Harmony” clinched the sole gold award in the sculpture category of the prestigious Louvre International Arts Exhibition. Wu was the first Chinese laureate of this honor in over a century, a testament to China’s burgeoning presence on the global arts scene.
The art exchange has been a two-way street. In 2020, nearly 150 years after its inaugural Paris exhibition, Claude Monet‘s masterpiece “Impression, Sunrise” graced Chinese soil for the first time. The exhibition showcased a total of 47 French paintings at the Bund One Art Museum in Shanghai, including nine loaned pieces from the Marmottan Monet Museum in Paris.
Adding to the artistic dialogue, the West Bund Art and Design exhibition in Shanghai in 2021 unveiled sixty paintings from 15 contemporary French artists of various generations. This gave Chinese art enthusiasts a glimpse into the contemporary art scene in France, with works from both established and emerging artists.
Literature also plays a significant role in this cultural exchange. In April this year, an exhibition at the National Library of China in Beijing showcased 15 precious manuscripts translated from French by Fu Lei, a celebrated 20th-century Chinese translator, writer, and educator. The manuscripts encompassed classic works from French literature, drama, philosophy, and more.
For French art aficionados, Chinese art holds a captivating allure. According to one art enthusiast, Axel, “Asia is a distant continent, a place that makes you dream a little with its culture… It’s very refined, very elegant, as we can see in the paintings, in calligraphy, and in a lot of art in general from Asia and especially from China.”
Looking ahead, 2024 has been earmarked as the China-France Cultural Tourism Year. It coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and promises a plethora of exciting activities, further fostering the mutual appreciation and understanding that has marked their shared cultural journey.
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