Framing growing cultural connections

Yishu 8 hosted an exhibition showcasing works by its prize winners in April at Beijing's National Art Museum of China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Near the Forbidden City lies a quaint courtyard with gray brick walls, crimson columns and old trees that extend branches beyond the compound's walls in Beijing's Dongcheng district.

The courtyard embodies a chapter in the history of friendship and exchange between China and France that goes back 100 years and lasts until today. The Sino-French University was located there since the 1920s. Now, it is home to Yishu 8, an art platform that provides residencies for artists from the two countries.

Every year since 2011, Yishu 8 has awarded its France Prize to three young French artists and invites them for a two- to three-month residency in Beijing. And since 2013, the China Prize has been offered annually to two Chinese artists, who are then invited to Paris for residencies.

French artist Lyes Hammadouche won in 2017 and arrived in Beijing for a two-month residency.

"I was provided with a place to stay and a studio to work in on the second floor of a former Sino-French University building, where the lighting was beautiful," Hammadouche recalls.

"It felt amazing to be here because it's one of the places where there really were exchanges between French and Chinese cultures. That's something that made it unique."

Yishu 8's China Prize laureate Wang Enlai positions his artwork during residency in France. [Photo provided to China Daily]

He knew some of the basics about Chinese culture before making the journey. And he is interested in Eastern philosophy. So, after his arrival in Beijing, he started learning Chinese and reading the seminal Taoist work, Tao Te Ching.

"I had to come here to dive into the culture and experience it firsthand to understand the book," the 37-year-old says.

"And that was the amazing part of it. When I went back and my friends asked me to tell them about China, there is no word to describe it. You have to live it."

During those two months, he also encountered other artists and art experts, who expressed recognition of his work. Jury member of Yishu 8's China Prize Tony Brown, who is also a guest professor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, invited him to teach at the academy, which led him to live in Beijing for four years, teaching new media art and design.

Now based in London, he recently came back to Beijing for an exhibition of Yishu 8 prize laureates, titled Histoire d'Yishu 8 Residence d'Artistes Franco-Chinoise (History of Yishu 8 French-Chinese Artist Residency).

As this year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and France, Yishu 8 hosted the exhibition from April 20 to 28 at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing.

Displayed on-site are 56 works from various media, including paintings, sculptures, videos and installations, by 34 French and Chinese artists who have participated in the residency.

Founder of Yishu 8 Christine Cayol with French Ambassador to China Bertrand Lortholary appreciate the artworks. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The exhibition's opening ceremony on April 20 was attended by Bertrand Lortholary, French ambassador to China, Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China, Christine Cayol, founder of Yishu 8, and Su Dan, the exhibition's curator.

"The spirit of Yishu 8 lies in the need of an equal and free dialogue between China and France," says Cayol, a French writer and philosopher, who has lived in China for more than 20 years and founded Yishu 8 in 2009.

"When this dialogue is led by artists, it resembles a tree bearing fruit. Sometimes, the fruits immediately come into fruition, but at others, they require the artists to delve deeper into their own cultural roots."

Chinese artist Huang Xiaoliang had two of his photography works displayed at the exhibition. Both are early works kept in Yishu 8's collections around 10 years ago, featuring the grayscale hues of Chinese ink paintings, processing techniques in digital art and an exploration of the concept of shadows.

On exhibit are 56 works created by 34 French and Chinese artists who have participated in the residency program. [Photo provided to China Daily]

He first heard about Yishu 8 in 2010, when he'd just graduated from university. Since then, he has continued collaborating with the organization, hosting solo exhibitions and having his works displayed around the world.

"I think Yishu 8 was a pioneering organization at that time in constructing a nonprofit exchange platform to support artists. It's a difficult endeavor. Young artists especially need more of these kinds of opportunities," Huang says.

He participated in residencies in Paris in 2018 and 2023, each lasting around two months. During these periods, he was provided with a studio at the International City of the Arts, an artist-in-residence building complex near the Seine.

"Apart from its great location in central Paris, the complex was very international and diverse, with artists coming from all around the world, each with their own studios and working on all kinds of art forms, such as music, visual art, film and literature," Huang says.

"Getting to know these artists from different cultural backgrounds allows us to broaden our vision, providing us with abundant information and diverse perspectives for looking at and understanding the world, which is very important for artists."

An artwork by Wang Enlai, titled  Pressure Released — Glass Plate, adds color, literally, to the exhibition. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese artist Wang Enlai, whose works are also featured at the exhibition, likewise says the residencies proved an eye-opening experience. He was granted the China Prize in 2015, when he was a master's student of sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

"New experiences are very important. For artists, creation is based on what they see and what they hear. When life suddenly changes into a very different environment, it spurs new experiences and new stimuli," Wang says.

"Information is easily accessible today, but I think especially when we can smoothly access information, firsthand experience is more important — our senses, our encounters and our connections with other people."

After his initial residency in 2016, he went to France again in 2022 to prepare for his works to be showcased at the 2022 Yishu 8 exhibition centered on the artist residency at the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts in Paris.

"The recognition of Yishu 8 prize by these two prestigious museums (Guimet and the National Art Museum of China) is crucial," Cayol says.

"It encourages us to continue building cultural, artistic and humanistic bridges. These are spaces of transition and exploration, where people can construct their own identities by getting closer to others.

"These bridges between China and France come to life through the artists. It is they who, in the silence of the studio, hold the future of our civilizations in their hands."

Wang attended the French residency program twice in 2016 and 2022 respectively. [Photo provided to China Daily]