FRANCE'S FASCINATION with China's culture dates to at least the 17th century when, under King Louis XIV, French merchants started weaving their own silks with patterns of pagodas, pavilions and Chinese figures reposing on rocks - often stereotypical images of an exotic land as it appeared from afar. Today, despite extensive media coverage, modern communications and business dealings, in western countries such as France, China largely remains a pastiche of distant images that confuse as much as they enthral. But over the next year, France will have an opportunity to see Chinese culture literally on its doorstep: in its finest museums, concert halls, cinematheques and department stores, on its most famous boulevard, and even in the Palace of Versailles. The Year of China, an undertaking which officially started early last month and lasts into next summer throughout France, is being heralded as the largest showcase of Chinese culture ever presented outside the mainland and as an opportunity for French people to see China in a more modern light. 'There are two categories of stereotypes of China, and what we've learned [in preparing the event] is perhaps to depart from these stereotypes,' says Jean-Pierre Angremy, president of the France-China Years project. 'The first stereotype is a traditional, hierarchical China that we see in old films about other epochs: the Middle Kingdom, remaining very closed, of poor peasants and workers, and mandarins. The second is a China of Mao, without compromise, in which everyone wears overalls and travels on bicycles,' says Angremy, a prolific novelist and a diplomat who spent three years in Hong Kong and then Beijing during the 1960s in the latter capacity. 'We want to show another China - a China of magnificent, traditional culture, and an extraordinary China of novelty in all domains.' The Year of China is the brainchild of French President Jacques Chirac, who proposed the idea to China's then head of state Jiang Zemin four years ago to mark the 40th anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations. Under French president Charles de Gaulle, France was the first major western power to recognise the People's Republic of China, in January 1964. Jiang not only accepted the proposal but also agreed on a reciprocal Year of France in China beginning next autumn. The Year of China fits with what has now become a French institution. For more than a decade, France has each year been putting one country's culture in the spotlight. These culture fests are a product of France's national policy and almost missionary zeal to stem the deleterious effects of globalisation - what many critics around the world often refer to as a kind of mass-produced, mass-marketed McCulture. 'Globalisation brings hope, but also fear,' says Alain Lombard, Commissioner General of France for the twinned cultural years project. 'In particular, France supports cultural diversity, to keep the good aspects of globalisation but to avoid the negative ones.' This stance is one that China fervently endorses. Lu Jun, Lombard's Chinese counterpart, was quoted as saying that China and France 'equally defend the specificity of their culture, protect the diversity of the culture of the world and favour its development'. But even without the anniversary, it appears that both the government and ordinary people of France feel that China's global impact is now so great that they need a better fix on the country. 'China is a country that one really cannot ignore today,' says Lombard. 'It's true the Year of China has a particular magnitude ... It's a bit special among all these cultural years.' Given that the Year of China is a Sino-French co-production directed by ministries of the two governments, one would not expect to find anything in the programme that might embarrass Beijing. In a report from the Chinese capital, Le Monde said that throughout the meetings leading up to the Year of China there was some 'grumbling heard on the French benches' stemming from tensions as to what should be included and excluded from the cultural exchange. The French daily also reported that France's foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, exercised self-censorship in dropping any reference in the programme to Gao Xingjian, winner of the 2000 Nobel Literature Prize. Gao, whose works have been banned in China since 1983, has lived in France for 16 years. Angremy says that in planning the event, there had been 'some difficulty in understanding each other' with China, like France, sometimes being fixated with the traditional side of its own culture. 'But what I learned above all was that their manner in discussing and negotiating has evolved considerably,' he says. In the end 'there was understanding'. Perhaps the programme is more surprising for what China put in rather than left out. China has embraced Chinese-born artists who have not lived in China for a decade or longer and whose works transcend national borders while maintaining their native heritage. There are risks as well, indicated when a showing of Chinese fashion design during Paris fashion week last month fell far short of wowing the audience. Many visitors to the exhibitions of contemporary art express surprise at what they find because the works seem not only accessible to a western audience, but seem also to convey a sense that the artists have found their own domain, unrestrained by communist politics or cultural traditions of east and west. 'It's encouraging to see Chinese artists expressing themselves,' says Evelyne Martin, a travel manager visiting one of the contemporary art exhibits with her teenage daughter, an art student. Pierre Faber, a kite artist who lives in Paris and has visited China twice, adds: 'Chinese artists have learned very well the language of occidental art and how to express themselves with it.' Under the theme of 'eternal China', some of the highlights already underway include 12th- to 3rd-century BC bronze artefacts unearthed in Sichuan province since 1986, on display at the Hotel de la Ville in Paris; and objects from the Confucius Museum in Qufu, Shandong province, at the Guimet National Museum of Asian Art in Paris. Beginning at the end of March, the Grand-Palais in Paris opens its doors to 'Celestial Mountains', 150 paintings dating from the Song to the Qing dynasties. Although the dates have not been fixed, an exhibition of court life under Emperor Kang Xi at the Palace of Versailles promises to be stunning, bringing the golden age of the Qing dynasty to the palace outside Paris built by Louis XIV, whose reign paralleled the Chinese ruler. There is no guarantee that the Year of China will transform ordinary French people into even armchair sinologists. Among French intellectuals, many admit to hardly having noticed that last year was dedicated to Algeria, and the year before to Poland. Nevertheless, due to the sheer scale, quality of the programme and extensive coverage in the French media, it appears the Year of China - whose titular sponsors are mainland film star Gong Li and Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan - is arousing considerable attention. The Alors, La Chine? exhibition of contemporary Chinese art at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, which closed in mid-October just as the Year of China was being officially launched, attracted more than 100,000 visitors since the end of June. The Silence Sonore (Sonorous Silence) exhibition of the works of the Shanghai-born artist Chen Zhen, who was influenced by Chinese medicine and Zen, believed that art was part therapy and lived in France from 1986 until his death in 2000, got the thumbs up in one of the weekly entertainment guides as the art event to see at the moment. Throughout history, it has been mainly among intellectuals and artists where the cultures of China and France have crossed paths. In the 18th century, French philosophers including Voltaire and Montesquieu were smitten with China, even if their understanding of the empire today seems skewed. In the 20th century Chinese thinkers returned the favour. Former Chinese premier Zhou Enlai and paramount leader Deng Xiaoping studied in France, which they called 'the birthplace of freedom', in the early part of the last century. While ordinary French people are unlikely to flock to conferences on Chinese culture, history and society at the Ricci Institute of Paris, or Chinese black-and-white movies from the early part of the 20th century, more than a few programmes seem to have been chosen partly because of their potential mass appeal. Lombard says that, for instance, of the 400,000 seats available for the Stars Of The Beijing Circus, most are already sold. Although small annual events in Paris' two Chinatowns mark the Chinese New Year, in January a huge Spring Festival parade will for the first time make its way down the Champs Elysees with the traditional dragon dances and martial artists. While browsing for their Kenzo or Yves St Laurent outfits, or Louis Vuitton bags at the Galeries Lafayette in the run-up to Christmas, shoppers will be able to pop by a display of 25 of the most beautiful costumes from the ballet Wives And Concubines which was inspired by mainland director Zhang Yimou. The contemporary art programmes include Shanghai Tango, a modern ballet dedicated to a 'mix of passions, confrontations and contradictions of that city' at the Casino de Paris; contemporary Chinese music composed by musicians at the Beijing and Shanghai conservatories; and the opera, Tea, composed and directed by Tan Dun, who won an Oscar for the best original score featured in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Hong Kong got a late start in preparing a contribution, having been brought into the organisation about a year ago. Given the long lead-time required to prepare such events, and that many of the sites had been booked, finding French operators able to squeeze in Hong Kong events became tricky. 'The principle of the inclusion of Hong Kong was taken on board rapidly enough, after certain discussions,' says Lombard. 'Thus the concrete preparations for Hong Kong were concluded a bit later compared with the ones of mainland China.' From December 8 to 13, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris will perform in a co-production at the Paris conservatory. In June next year, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra will give a concert at the Saint Denis Festival. A 'Homage To Hong Kong Film Archives' is scheduled to unfold in January at the Institute Lumiere in Lyons while the golden years of Hong Kong cinema are being screened at the French Cinematheque in Paris until early February. Albert Lee Yuen-yin, chief manager of film and cultural exchange for the Leisure Services Department, says the government's role is to facilitate the cultural exchange rather than select specific exhibits or events. 'Many of the events are yet to be finalised,' he stressed. Lombard adds that events such as an 'art of life' exhibition is being planned for July, and that Hong Kong is likely to play a role. The Year of China, while concentrated in Paris, spreads out to the provinces as well, with French and Chinese sister cities having teamed up to put on events. The two countries have divided some of the costs of putting on the programme, with the French government budgeting two million euros (about HK$18 million), while another 1.2 million euros has been raised through corporate sponsorship. But it's hard to put a total price on the Year of China as most of the costs have been borne by the museums, theatres and other institutions that hope to recoup expenses through ticket sales. Lombard says the immediate measure of the Year of China's success will be the number of people who show up for the events. Over the short and longer term it is hoped that event will spur more scientific, educational and scientific exchanges between France and China. Although it has just got underway, it appears the programmes are already forcing visitors to reassess their view of China. 'China is taking a dominant place in the world,' says Faber, the kite artist. 'I wonder if they're going to compete with us in art as well. All this energy is exploding.'
