A ceramic exhibition displaying 48 sets of ancient porcelain works from Jingdezhen, in East China's Jiangxi province was unveiled in Paris on Jan 30, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France.

Held at the Paris China Cultural Center and themed "Porcelain's Journey on Silk Road", the exhibition was organized by the Information Office of Jiangxi provincial government, Jiangxi provincial department of culture and tourism, Centre Culturel de Chine a Paris, and the Jingdezhen city government.

According to the organizers, the exhibition doesn't only represent a specific action to enhance Jingdezhen's image as a capital of porcelain standing for thousands of years, but also a bridge of civilization, culture and art exchange between China and France.

The opening ceremony was attended by officials including Chen Li, minister counselor of the Chinese Embassy in France; Anne-Marie Raffarin, wife of former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin; Wang Ying, deputy head of Permanent Delegation of China to UNESCO; Yannick Lintz, president of the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts; as well as more than 180 guests from the French cultural, art and media sectors.

Jingdezhen, known as the porcelain capital of China, has produced countless exquisite porcelain works over the centuries. Chinese and French porcelain share many similarities and differences, much like the people of both countries who, despite their differences, have been able to understand and appreciate each other over the past 60 years, Chen said, adding that this ceramic cultural exhibition serves as a bridge of communication between Chinese and French cultures. It is hoped that the guests will appreciate the long-lasting beauty of porcelain and the extraordinary charm of art transcending national boundaries through this exhibition.

In his welcome speech, Liu Hongge, director of the Centre Culturel de Chine a Paris, noted that 2024 marks another China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, which provides an opportunity to explore new directions for cooperation and stimulate a new wave of exchanges between China and France. The porcelain exhibition, as one of the key events of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, aims to showcase the historical culture of Chinese ceramics and their development.

Lintz expressed her honor to participate in the event, stating that this year is also the year of Chinese culture at the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, where there will be an exhibition on monochrome glazed porcelain from June to September.

Officials from Jingdezhen city government, stated that for thousands of years, as a result of the exchanges along the land and maritime Silk Roads, Jingdezhen ceramics, as a messenger of human civilization exchange, have become an important window for China to reach out to the world and for the world to understand China. Currently, Jingdezhen is striving to build a national ceramic culture inheritance and innovation experimental zone, inheriting ceramic culture, continuing the profound cultural heritage, and promoting the continuous development of Jingdezhen ceramic culture in inheritance and innovation.

Musicians from China and France performed the music of Blue and White Porcelain with great passion at the opening ceremony. Representatives from both Jingdezhen and France demonstrated traditional pottery making and painting techniques on site.

Subsequently, officials from Jingdezhen hosted a cultural and tourism promotion event, elaborating on Jingdezhen's ceramic and culinary culture as well as the goal of enhancing connectivity with the world, narrating the inheritance of a glorious history and the hope for deepened future exchanges. A documentary named Ingenuity in Pottery: The City of Handicrafts and a cultural and tourism promotional video were also screened at the event.

Following the opening ceremony, a lecture with the theme of The Historical and Contemporary Aspects of Ceramic Art showcased the concepts of pottery and porcelain and gave an overview of the historical development of Chinese ceramics and an overview of contemporary ceramic art.

Jean Pegouret, a former French engineer who attended the opening ceremony and the lecture said the opening ceremony was impeccable. The music performance made him feel as if he had returned to the China that he was familiar with, and the pottery demonstration from the Jingdezhen Art Museum and expatriate ceramic artists in France allowed him to witness this millennia-old craft up close for the first time.

Hugo, a musician who participated in the opening performance said as a French musician, it is a rare chance to have such close contact and involvement in Chinese culture. Against the backdrop of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, his collaboration with Chinese musicians at this opening ceremony was one of the unforgettable achievements of his lifetime. He looks forward to working together with more Chinese artists to present Chinese-French cultural exchanges in the form of music.

The exhibition was divided into five themes of Silk Road Voyage, New Horizons in Porcelain, Myriad Colors of China, The World on Porcelain and Concord among Nations. From the perspective of the long history and exchange of Chinese ceramics, the contemporary innovation and development of Chinese ceramics, the multicultural nature of Chinese culture and its vivid artistic expression, the global expression of civilization through ceramics, and China's development philosophy of peace and friendship" and "treating others with courtesy," the outstanding features of Jingdezhen's ceramic culture as a continuous, innovative, unified, inclusive, and peaceful part of Chinese civilization were fully showcased.

The exhibition will continue until Feb 18 and then tour Brussels, Belgium and Berlin, Germany.

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