2014: a Chinese year in the Loire châteaux

Several initiatives are involved: 

Hosting Chinese artists

At Château du Clos Lucé, the 8^th edition of L’Univers de la Création , from 30 April to 25 May, is dedicated to China, with 13 specialised master artists presenting a selection of their works to the public. 

On 18 May at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., Château du Rivau is hosting two concerts of the age-old traditional music once played exclusively at the Imperial Court, performed by the Sky Temple troop, which will be visiting France for the first time. 

From 1 to 31 October, Fontevraud Abbey, a focal point for creation, meditation and history, will be playing host to animated-filmmaker Yan Bai Shen. From 14 June to 30 September, the abbey will also be presenting a work by the visual artist Song Dong entitled Video Crumpling Shanghai. 

An exhibition

From 17 April to 16 November, the Royal Château of Amboise will be hosting an exhibition entitled “ A silken thread from China to Amboise ”, an opportune reminder of the French people’s centuries-old fascination for Chinese culture and the long history of exchanges between the two nations. Silk creations, presented both in French and Chinese, will be illustrating the succeeding stages of the Silk Road from China to Amboise. 

As well as:

Presentation of works by Chinese artists

Since 1992, the International Garden Festival held at the Domaine de Chaumont has provided a panorama of the state of landscaping creativity throughout the world. Alongside the Festival, the new 10-hectare Prés du Goualoup Park is now laid out with permanent gardens illustrating garden art across the world. 

The three gardens created by Chinese landscape architects in 2012 and 2013 are open to visitors: 

• “The Garden of Lingering Clouds” (Wang Shu, Pritzker Prize for Architecture 2012)
• “Square and Round” (Yu Kongjian)
• “Hualu, a Hermitage on the Loire” traditional garden (Che Bing Chiu).

In April, the Domaine de Chambord held an exhibition of large-scale photographs and drawings by the Chinese artist Du Zhenjun, a graduate of the Shanghai and Rennes Schools of Fine Arts whose remarkable work consists of transposing the myth of the Tower of Babel to our present-day world.  

Items from château collections

Various items in chateau collections are evocative of the relations existing between China and the Loire Valley – the long story of exchanges between the two, ancient and modern alike, testifying to the orientalist trends in art that the châteaux played host to. They are to be found in particular at the Dukes of Brittany’s châteaux in Nantes, and Château de Villandry, while Château d’Azay-le-Rideau calls to mind the Chinese pavilion that adjoined the edifice in the 18^th century. 

Welcoming Chinese visitors to the châteaux

Châteaux d’Amboise, de Brissac, de Chenonceaux, du Clos Lucé and de Villandry, the Chambord and Chaumont estates and Château du Rivau all have websites and visitors’ literature or audioguides translated into Chinese. 

The Fortress of Chinon, which is located in a town with a long history of relations with the Xiangsi region, is also developing similar aids, as is Château de Sully-sur-Loire. 

Finally, the Chambord estate is planning to draft a hosting charter for Chinese visitors. 

On the web:

• www.loire-chateaux.org