Exhibitions in France promote cultural exchanges with China

(Photos/Courtesy of Tencent)

In a bid to further enhance China-French relations, China's tech giant Tencent and the France National Museums Union (RMN) signed a strategic cooperation memorandum at the Grand Palace in Paris on Jan. 30, 2019. This year also marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France.

The cooperation will see Tencent and RMN begin a journey of in-depth cooperation, mutual learning, cultural exchange, traditional cultural inheritance and innovation.

As part of this new cooperation, Tencent and the RMN unveiled a number of exhibitions, including the "Global Digital Museums for National Treasures" and "Chinese New Cultural Creativity."

The Global Digital Museums for National Treasures exhibition will help Tencent collaborate with leading international museums to digitalise their Chinese collections. The France Guimet - Asian Art Museum, a leading cultural institution renowned for its Asian collections, will display 25 Chinese relics as part of the exhibition.

Cheng Wu, Vice President of Tencent, said, "It's a great pleasure to build a strategic partnership with RMN on the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France."

"Tencent is committed to promoting traditional culture and innovation. We hope that our joint activities will make great contributions to cultural exchange between the two countries and even across the globe," he added.

France has always been a popular destination for Chinese tourists, with Paris ranking as the second most popular long-haul destination for outbound Chinese tourism this Spring Festival. However, Patricia Barthelemy, Head of Promotion/Leisure Marketing at the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, explained that unlike previous generations, more young Chinese people today pay more attention to culture and art, and want to visit cities outside of Paris.

It's thought that exhibitions such as this will significantly help Chinese and French citizens learn more about each other, and will allow those who may not be able to travel to glimpse into another culture and way of life.

Ahead of the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival, the Chinese New Cultural Creativity Exhibition was also revealed. The exhibition will focus on Spring Festival culture and customs, and will include traditional cultural works in a mix of conventional culture and technology, including old-school family photos, traditional foods and hongbao, augmented with WeChat Red Packets, which combine the thousand-year-old Red Packet tradition with modern mobile payment technology.

During the ceremony, Li Shaoping, Minister-Counselor of Culture at the Chinese Embassy in France pointed out, "Tencent's New Cultural Creativity Exhibition at the Guimet shows what Chinese cultural creativity looks like today. Through dynamic methods, it communicates Chinese culture with France and the world. Through this exhibition, people can not only enjoy Chinese classical culture but also find out about contemporary China."