Monday night, Paris’ Grand Palais—a vast structure along the Champs Élysées, built in 1900 as a venue to exhibit the newest in French design—was turned into a kind of cultural discothèque to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Franco-Chinese diplomatic relations, established by General Charles de Gaulle in 1964. The evening, under the “haut patronage” of French President François Hollande, found sufficiently grand expression in a multimedia program that unfolded throughout the evening; the first half by invitation-only, the second open and free to the public. If the aesthetic bore similarities to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it was because Chen Weiya, co-designer of Beijing’s opening ceremony, helped art-direct the soirée.
The countries’ courtship follows President Hollande’s first official visit to China last April in an effort to cement Franco-Chinese business ties during a period of slow economic growth in France, while lightning-fast in China. Was Nuit de Chine also an opportunity for France to seduce an emerging class of Chinese buyers? Perhaps. The evening’s list of sponsors, like Chanel, Dior, and Citroën, are known for harping on French notions of “savoir-faire” and “art-de-vivre” as marketing ploys in the East. (Nominally, of course, the night’s proceedings took place under a cultural, rather than commercial, premise.)
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Chinese ambassador to France Zhai Zun, and Chinese Minister of Culture Cai Wu, each made opening remarks to invitees, including some 2000 Chinese exchange students in France. Acts by pianist Mu Ye Wu (in lieu of Lang Lang, who had been detained in LA post-Grammy’s), Shanghai-based acrobatic troupe Phoenix Circus, and étoile dancers from both the Chinese Central Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet, followed suit. Then came the “Image, Lighting and Sound” section, of 3D-projected imagery composed by video artist Pierre Giner, the fashionable Yi Zhou, and a young Agnès Varda onto a series of colossal, billowing red and white silk scrims suspended from the Palais’ vaulted ceilings, against DJ Patrick Vidal’s electronic soundscape.
Spectators navigated a landscape of food trucks serving dim sum, bubble tea, burgers, beer, and quiche, while well-heeled ladies had to tread carefully across a dirt racetrack that stretched the entire 800 feet of the Grand Palais. Most spectacular of all was an equestrian show choreographed by French horse-theater impresario Bartabas and backed by Hermès (who, it turned out, didn’t provide the silk). In a nod to this year turning the Year of the Horse on Friday, a white-powered team of horses and humans from the Tagou Martial Arts School charged up and down the track in elaborate configurations, like an animated version of Emperor Qin’s 246 BC terra cotta army, as dirt lodged itself in prosecco glasses and iPhones flashed.
The Velvet Underground-influenced Chinese band Carsick Cars then took center stage under a light show that was equal parts kitsch and sublime. Outside, electro could be heard emanating from the Grand Palais till the wee hours. And this was just Nuit No. 1—a dense program of exhibitions, symposia, and summits at institutions in both France and China, is planned in its wake…
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Photo courtesy of ARTER
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Photo courtesy of ARTER
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The countries’ courtship follows President Hollande’s first official visit to China last April in an effort to cement Franco-Chinese business ties during a period of slow economic growth in France, while lightning-fast in China. Was Nuit de Chine also an opportunity for France to seduce an emerging class of Chinese buyers? Perhaps. The evening’s list of sponsors, like Chanel, Dior, and Citroën, are known for harping on French notions of “savoir-faire” and “art-de-vivre” as marketing ploys in the East. (Nominally, of course, the night’s proceedings took place under a cultural, rather than commercial, premise.)
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Chinese ambassador to France Zhai Zun, and Chinese Minister of Culture Cai Wu, each made opening remarks to invitees, including some 2000 Chinese exchange students in France. Acts by pianist Mu Ye Wu (in lieu of Lang Lang, who had been detained in LA post-Grammy’s), Shanghai-based acrobatic troupe Phoenix Circus, and étoile dancers from both the Chinese Central Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet, followed suit. Then came the “Image, Lighting and Sound” section, of 3D-projected imagery composed by video artist Pierre Giner, the fashionable Yi Zhou, and a young Agnès Varda onto a series of colossal, billowing red and white silk scrims suspended from the Palais’ vaulted ceilings, against DJ Patrick Vidal’s electronic soundscape.
Spectators navigated a landscape of food trucks serving dim sum, bubble tea, burgers, beer, and quiche, while well-heeled ladies had to tread carefully across a dirt racetrack that stretched the entire 800 feet of the Grand Palais. Most spectacular of all was an equestrian show choreographed by French horse-theater impresario Bartabas and backed by Hermès (who, it turned out, didn’t provide the silk). In a nod to this year turning the Year of the Horse on Friday, a white-powered team of horses and humans from the Tagou Martial Arts School charged up and down the track in elaborate configurations, like an animated version of Emperor Qin’s 246 BC terra cotta army, as dirt lodged itself in prosecco glasses and iPhones flashed.
The Velvet Underground-influenced Chinese band Carsick Cars then took center stage under a light show that was equal parts kitsch and sublime. Outside, electro could be heard emanating from the Grand Palais till the wee hours. And this was just Nuit No. 1—a dense program of exhibitions, symposia, and summits at institutions in both France and China, is planned in its wake…
Photo courtesy of ARTER
Photo courtesy of ARTER
