Shen Haixiong, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and president of the China Media Group (CMG), highlighted cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and France at the opening ceremony of an Olympic-themed Chinese art exhibition.
The exhibition, titled "From Beijing to Paris: Olympic Tour of Chinese and French Artists," opened at Les Invalides in Paris on Monday.
The event is co-hosted by the CMG, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, the Ligue de Football Professionnel, and several French art organizations, which coincides with Chinese President Xi Jinping's current state visit to France.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Shen said that the exhibition creates a platform for true, multi-dimensional and panoramic account of China's story through art, showcasing China's artistic achievements on its journey of building modern civilization.
He said that as an international mainstream media, all-media rights-holding broadcaster and the partner of the Paris Organizing Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which undertakes the most public signal production projects of the Paris Olympic Games, the CMG will send a production and broadcast team of more than 2,000 people to cover the grand sports gathering. Leveraging the latest achievements in "5G+4K/8K+AI," the CMG will complete the international public signal production for the major sports events, serving as the "eyes" for global audiences to appreciate the beauty of the Olympics.
Together with their French partners, the CMG will integrate "thoughts + art + technology" to inject new vitality and energy into the sports field through innovative fusion, contributing to the inheritance of friendship between the two great nations of China and France, and aiming to contribute to the progress of human civilization, world peace, and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, said Shen.
At the exhibition, the CMG donated the sculpture "Tong Zhou Gong Du" (literally "cross a river in the same boat") created by Huang Jian, the IOC's Olympic art ambassador and renowned sculptor, to the French Olympic Committee.
Nearly 200 distinguished guests, including French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, President of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee David Lappartient and President of the French Professional Football League Vincent Labrune, attended the opening ceremony.
The art exhibition showcases over 200 pieces of artworks by more than 100 leading Chinese artists, including Chinese ink wash paintings, calligraphy, oil paintings, sculptures, and pieces of intangible cultural heritage, highlighting the diversity and openness of Chinese art. It is open to the public from May 7 to 18.
CMG president highlights cultural exchanges between China, France
