Cultural forum opens opportunities for more exchanges with France

Boasting abundant historical relics and a dynamic cultural industry, Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu province spotlighted its many and varied attractions during the fifth Sino-French Cultural Forum, which kicked off on Nov 13.

As the host city, Suzhou invited local artists and business leaders to participate, including Fan Xiaoqing, honorary chairman of the Jiangsu Writers' Association; Bo Yifeng, vice-president of Suzhou Dayu Network Technology; Xie Xiaoting, head of Suzhou Museum; and Wu Jian, founder of Tongcheng Tourism. They shared stories of their experiences in the city and exchanged information about Suzhou's cultural business in overseas markets in an effort to boost communication between the East and West.

At the forum venue, a special lobby portrayed Suzhou as a city of culture, ecology, innovation, industry and livability, with exhibits celebrating the 30-year friendship between Suzhou's Wujiang district and Bourgoin Jallieu, France, underscoring the cultural and artistic achievements of both countries.

Oil paintings by French artists were transformed into silk products after being carefully designed by local silk companies, and the exhibition also showcased the achievements of Suzhou's cultural relics preservation and utilization through text, pictures and real examples, especially in the fields of architecture, authenticity preservation, new high-tech tools, value interpretation and social participation. Interactive experiences of intangible cultural heritage such as Kunqu Opera, Suzhou embroidery, lacquer carving and woodblock prints were also included.

During the forum, classic musical renditions such as The Beautiful Scenery of Suzhou, The Beauty of Jiangnan, and To Moor at Night at the Maple Bridge were performed on stage, while Kunqu Opera The Peony Pavilion, together with Jiangnan musical instrument performances such as yangqin, pipa, erhu and guzheng spotlighted the unique charm of Suzhou's traditional culture. The event also invited Chinese and foreign guests to visit architectural attractions such as the Garden of Humble Administrator, to experience the elegant and exquisite architectural art of garden culture.

Before and after the opening of the forum, a series of cultural exchange activities in Suzhou and France were held in both places. In early November, representatives of Suzhou's intangible cultural heritage, such as Yao Jianping, a Chinese master of arts and crafts; Zhu Shouzhen, a master of arts and crafts in Jiangsu; and Lu Xiaolin, an inheritor of Suzhou embroidery, were invited to participate in a cultural heritage exhibition at the famed Louvre museum in Paris, where their Suzhou embroidery work Mona Lisa attracted a lot of attention. Although different from Leonardo da Vinci's original, it exudes a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere, reflecting interaction between Eastern and Western cultures.

In Suzhou, that kind of interaction can be seen everywhere. The Ligongdi scenic area, near the main venue of the forum, has become trendy this autumn due to the unveiling of 10 large-scale street paintings featuring themes such as Paris' Montmartre and Suzhou's Ligongdi, the Sea of Love and Romance, flowers, cheongsam, the Seine River, Gusu Bridge, and Huqiu Tower.

As one of the activities of the Jinji Lake Sino-French Culture and Art Week, an art exhibition created by 10 Chinese and French artists and curated by renowned street artist Qi Xinghua and Yang Hui, director of Ming Museum of Art, will run until Nov 30.

Since the reform and opening-up, Suzhou and France have conducted close exchanges and achieved fruitful results in economy, trade, culture, education and other fields.

Suzhou became a sister city with Grenoble, France in 1998, and in recent years a number of renowned French companies such as Airbus, Safran, Fives Group, L'Oreal and Decathlon have set up offices in Suzhou.