China News Service, Paris, September 25. Title: Ke Siting Jiayue: France-China cooperation in the inheritance and protection of cultural heritage has broad prospects
China News Service reporter Li Yang
French writer and philosopher Christine Cayol has long been engaged in art and cultural exchanges between France and China. Jiayue recently accepted a written interview with China News Service's "East-West Question" to share her latest insights on cultural exchanges between France and China.
When the reporter asked Jiayue about the Chinese cities she had visited recently, she revealed that she had visited Changsha, Hunan, and had high praise for Changsha. She described Changsha as a very dynamic city, both a "traditional city" and a "young city" in China. She was deeply impressed by the local urban architecture and design style, especially the Mao Zedong Youth Art Sculpture at Juzizhoutou in Changsha.
Jiayue first visited China in 2002 and has lived in China for more than 20 years. Regarding the development and changes in China over the years, Jiayue told reporters that the biggest change in China is its development into an innovative country. China's creation and innovation have made great progress in recent years.
When talking about the annual theme of the 2026 Beijing Cultural Forum, "Cultural Heritage and Mutual Learning among Civilizations," Jiayue said that both France and China are countries with a long history and rich cultural heritage, and both have a lot of experience in the inheritance and protection of cultural heritage. She pointed out that France and China have broad prospects for cooperation in this area, and "there is unlimited room for discussion," such as how to give old buildings a new look through technical restoration.
Jiayue founded "Art 8" in 2009, which has become an important platform connecting French and Chinese artists. When talking about the development prospects of "Art 8", Jiayue said that she hopes that "Art 8" can cooperate more closely with other art institutions in Beijing and China, expand it into a larger-scale art institution, and its artistic perspective can become broader, including not only painting and sculpture, but also handicrafts, food and other skills.
Jiayue said that Art 8 will hold an exhibition reflecting the restoration work of Notre Dame de Paris. It took five years to rebuild Notre Dame de Paris. During this period, what kind of technology and what kind of power France used are reflected in the exhibition. She proudly said that such an exhibition is special and can only be seen in Paris or "Art 8". Photos in the exhibition were also used with permission from the Notre Dame Foundation.
In fact, "Art 8" has a subtle connection with the reconstruction of Notre Dame de Paris. French artist Claire Tabouret, winner of the first "Art 8 Prize", was selected by French officials to participate in the reconstruction project of Notre Dame de Paris. She was responsible for designing six contemporary stained glass windows for the south chapel of Notre Dame, which sparked heated discussions in France and abroad. It is understood that Teboley had previously done a residency at Art 8 in Beijing.
Jiayue revealed that "Art 8" also held an exhibition of French painters depicting the scenes of Beijing's hutongs, integrating sketches with a strong personal style and the skills of Chinese gongbi painting. She described this as a masterpiece combining French and Chinese art.
Jiayue told reporters that the next step is to promote the establishment of a "Sino-French Master Lecture Hall" to echo the spirit of the Sino-French University in Beijing a hundred years ago. The former site of the University of China and France in Beijing is now the location of Art 8. The Sino-French University in Beijing was founded in the 1920s by Cai Yuanpei, Li Shizeng and others. It invited French elites to give lectures in China, and Marie Curie was one of the invitees at the time (the trip failed to take place). The "Sino-French Masters Lecture" is also preparing to invite French scientists, philosophers, and artists to China to invite them to share new ideas and perspectives. She said that compared with a century ago, the geographical distance between France and China has become less far away. You can reach each other's city in 9 hours by plane. Important figures in France and China can not only exchange ideas through face-to-face communication, but also promote some interesting projects. A preliminary list of candidates for the lecture hall has been drawn up.
The Sino-French Cultural Forum is planned to be held in France in November this year. When talking about the forum, Jiayue said that as the French vice-president of the forum, she is in communication with the French chairman of the forum and former French Prime Minister Raffarin. She hopes that through free exchanges during the forum, new ideas and new perspectives can be discovered and some specific things can be achieved, and she is working hard for this.
