A gold-plated ceiling mural, tapestry featuring the Qing dynasty Emperor Kangxi, a fire screen in gilt and polychrome carved wood - the latest chinoiserie gallery in the Louvre Museum is scheduled to open to the public next year.
But before it does the Louvre's president and director Henri Loyrette hopes to raise donations for the museum in Paris that has been hit hard by French government budget cuts.
Loyrette was in Hong Kong yesterday for fundraising events, his only stop in Asia before heading to San Francisco. He said €4 million (HK$40 million) was still needed for the palace museum's €26 million project to restore and refurbish eight galleries. They are home to 2,200 items of 18th century decorative art, dating from the end of Louis XIV's reign to the French Revolution.
"You know, it is very important to work with China," Loyrette said. "It's important to have a strong relationship with China."
The fundraising exercise was now crucial, Loyrette said, after the French government decided to reduce its subsidy for the nation's most famous museum.
Next year government funding will cover only 45 per cent of the Louvre's operating costs, of which staff expenses make up the largest part, Loyrette said.