The 2024 is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the year of sino-french cultural tourism, the special exhibition “When the Forbidden City meets the Palace of Versailles: Sino-french cultural exchanges in the 17th and 18th centuries”, jointly presented by the The Palace Museum, the Hong Kong Palace Museum of Culture and the French Palace of Versailles, will be held from tomorrow (18 May) to 4 May 2025 at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. Featuring nearly 150 pieces of The Palace Museum and Palace of Versailles Antiques, the exhibition will be held from the second half of the 17th century to the 18th century, chinese and French courts in culture, art, science and technology, mutual appreciation, mutual enlightenment and exchange of history into the pavilion.
For the first time, both the The Palace Museum and the Palace of Versailles are on display. Photo Source: Hong Kong Wenhui.com report with photos
“When the Forbidden City meets the palace of versailles-sino-french cultural exchanges in the 17th and 18th centuries” is one of the activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of sino-french diplomatic relations. Following the success of the exhibition in the The Palace Museum, the curatorial team turned to Hong Kong to explore the centuries-old origins of sino-french culture through new perspectives, reflections and new approaches.
The exhibition is the first of its kind in Great World, Shanghai to feature both the The Palace Museum and the Palace of Versailles, two important cultural relics of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage, as well as France Versailles Palace precious collection and some new collections in recent years.
Laurens Salomé, director of the Palace of Versailles, said the city, with its soft and multicultural character, was a European hub for mutual understanding with China. Hong Kong’s vibrant museums and the quality of its exhibitions have helped him to see a much smaller gap between the cultural institutions of the east and the west than he had expected. He said that in the future, France will join hands with China to create more outstanding and high-quality cultural projects and hold more Chinese exhibitions in France.