Collaborative efforts between Chinese and French artists at core of exhibition, Yang Feiyue reports in Chengdu.

A visitor takes photos at a China-France art exhibition in Chengdu, Sichuan province, during the 8th International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage in mid-October, that displayed 17 artworks jointly completed by Chinese artists and their French counterparts. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

An off-centered, brown French glass vessel with a delicate silver filigree top was the first thing visitors saw at the China-France art exhibition that opened in Chengdu in mid-October.

"The glass was sent to us by a French artist, and I interpreted its off-kilter position as an expression of a dynamic state," says Tian Shiqiang, a senior silverware artist based in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. "So, as we worked on it, we ensured that it maintained that dynamic feel."

Since a number of people are involved in the creation of each object, each at a different stage, it makes it impossible to fully control the final shape and result. What is most visible at the end is the quality of the craftsmanship, rather than the intentions of the participants.

Eric Benque, French artist

A silver bead, hung from the top, was suspended inside the vessel. "When (the glass) moves, the bead sways," he explains.

It took two months of trial and error before Tian was able to make a silver cover that perfectly matched the French glass.

"The ideal dimensions were settled on after several experiments. The metal becomes deformed during sintering (the application of intense heat), and so we needed to take deformation into account to ensure the cover fit the vessel perfectly," Tian explains.

His intervention was one of 17 pieces of artworks that resulted from a collaboration between artists from France and China, and is representative of examples of intangible cultural heritage from both countries. The finished objects were displayed during the 8th International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Chengdu.

Other highlights included a bird feeder, consisting of a handle attached to a bamboo bird cage made in China with ceramic dishes from France; a glass cup from France with Chinese braided rope; and a lacquer bowl from China with a glass plate from France.

"All seamlessly blend together without discord," says Zhang Jingming, curator of the exhibition, adding that the objects are proof that culture is a language of civilizational exchange and is capable of giving rise to new concepts.

"It is literally a dialogue between China and France, and these works break through geographical, linguistic, technological and experiential boundaries," Zhang says.

French artist Eric Benque, who initiated the China-France art exhibition, examines an artwork. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The exhibition of collaborative cultural heritage grew out of an idea French artist Eric Benque had in 2019, and his belief that artistic confrontation benefits everyone and reveals inner qualities.

"Since a number of people are involved in the creation of each object, each at a different stage, it makes it impossible to fully control the final shape and result. What is most visible at the end is the quality of the craftsmanship, rather than the intentions of the participants," Benque says.

During the process, Benque made a point of urging the artists on both sides to try to express the nature of the skills involved in the crafting of each object, to permit visitors to appreciate the qualities they embody.

"I was surprised and moved by their enthusiasm. They entrusted me with their work without knowing what it would become, and they all agreed to take a fresh look and challenge their habits," Benque says.

He wants the exhibition to play a positive role in encouraging more artists to find ways to keep exploring, experimenting and learning.

"Keeping cultural heritage alive means challenging it constantly, or it becomes the repetition of meaningless gestures and postures."

A bamboo forest artwork, a Sino-Korean collaboration. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Benque says he got a good measure of the beauty of Chinese intangible cultural heritage during preparations for the exhibition.

"China is vast and offers such a variety of contexts that people have developed a countless number of skills," he says.

The exhibition drew a large number of visitors, and Benque considers the experiment successful.

"I think it can go some way to helping people understand one another better. You can only respect what you understand, so helping people understand the nature of different skills is important for the future," he says, adding that he would like to expand his experiment.

"I have several other ideas to that end, which I hope I will have the opportunity to develop," he says.

Right next to the China-France exhibition hall, a Sino-Korean collaborative work, Vermilion Late Autumn, presents a stunning contemporary interpretation of a bamboo forest.

Composed of vertical sheets of acrylic, perforated with thousands of tiny holes, the branches of the bamboo are picked out in silk thread embroidery. Bathed in a purple light that turns the thread a vivid orange, the thread takes on a vibrancy, shining and shimmering as it catches the light. Enhanced by new media animation, the slabs take on the appearance of a living bamboo grove.

A Chinese lacquerware artwork featuring French handmade glass. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The use of hard acrylic in place of soft fabric is one of the highlights, says Diao Juan, a fiber artist and inheritor of Sichuan embroidery, who has more than a decade of experience in this form of intangible cultural heritage.

"Each 50 centimeters by 50 cm acrylic sheet is drilled with 6,400 holes and 7,000 meters of silk thread was used to embroider the bamboo," Diao says.

The technique gave normally flat embroidery a three-dimensional quality, which Diao says is a new development in her art.

"Because of the special nature of this piece, additional holes were added wherever possible because, by its nature, bamboo has both a straightness and a curvature that can't be re-created through regular spacing," Diao says. "This made it more challenging than my previous work."

The sound and light system that added extra dimension to her work was created by South Korean artist, Han Jun-wook.

Diao thinks the collaboration lent her installation, which is one of the most interesting parts of the exhibition, a sense of uncertainty.

"You can see reflection between the boards, which casts shadows on the upper surface, creating a deeper density," Diao explains, adding that one particular area is actually composed of five layers, but they give the feeling of many more, which deepens the bamboo presence.

"It is my understanding that the techniques of intangible cultural heritage need to be passed down, while expressions of intangible cultural heritage require innovation," Diao says.

A bird feeder framed with a bamboo handle made in China and ceramic plates from France. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

She sees intangible cultural heritage as a medium without boundaries, capable of conveying traditional themes while infusing them with new imagery and meaning.

While Han's contribution was more on the presentation of the installation, Diao believes it is integral to her work.

"We'll continue to work together to explore other installations in different settings in the future," Diao says.

For his part, Han developed an understanding of the ancient Chinese symbolism around bamboo, which is based on a play of words. The Chinese characters for the word "modesty" — xuxin — can be read literally as "hollow heart", and as bamboo is hollow at its "heart", it has become a synonym.

"I see how it can be reflective of a gentleman's integrity and modesty," Han says.

He says the exhibition is just a beginning of cooperation with Chinese artists for him.

"Hopefully, we can present bigger bamboo forests in more novel ways in the future," he says.

Zhang says that more bilateral cultural interaction through art will be arranged in the future.

"We have already done other cooperative projects involving Chinese filigree work and also Sichuan embroidery," Zhang says.

"We are looking forward to collaborating with more countries and to taking exhibits abroad," she adds.

Contact the writer at yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn