French Artist in China: A look into the soul of Philippe Bouvet
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Macron's visit to Beijing has boosted inter-personal ties between the people of France and China. One witness of this relationship is Sir Philippe Bouvet. The artist came to China in the 1990s for the first time and later returned to provide Chinese audiences with more authentic art performances - whether French classical music or Chinese folk songs. CGTN's Li Jianhua visited his art center - called La Plantation - in the suburbs of Beijing and filed this report.
PHILIPPE BOUVET DIRECTOR, LA PLANTATION INT'L ART CENTER "A nice space without a soul is just an empty place."
Many see Philippe Bouvet as the soul of the art center, which is located in an abandoned industrial factory. And here in his center -- which has now been open for ten years -- he likes to show his visitors different genres of art.
PHILIPPE BOUVET DIRECTOR, LA PLANTATION INT'L ART CENTER "I see any kind of artists coming here as the same, they are paid the same - the stars as the beginners. And my point is to hold concert(s) that I like, with people I trust."
Bouvet's first travel experience in southern China almost two decades ago inspired him to return. He called it a mysterious country back then. He brought some French art with him. And on the second floor of his center, he hung some paintings and other pieces by artists including Servane Cayeux and Michel Haillard. Some are quite exquisite and took weeks or even months to create.
"He gives a second birth of the dead stuff."
Others seem to be crude or even disorganized but, as Bouvet says, you can still get a sense of their power.
LI JIANHUA BEIJING "Art is said to be the most powerful language in the world, and it is through this that Mr. Phillipe Bouvet is bridging Chinese and French cultures. The only thing I can say in this language is (one, two three), which is one, two, three in English. But after appreciating those paintings, it seems like I can understand the message they are trying to convey without even understanding the language itself."
PHILIPPE BOUVET DIRECTOR, LA PLANTATION INT'L ART CENTER "I try to present many many different kinds of art in the same theater, so it's like classical maybe 60 percent, jazz 20 percent, 10 percent of contemporary dancing and 10 percent of children's shows or new circus."
Today we saw a children's program. As usual, he gave the opening speech, and when the show started, he faded into the darkness to control the light and sound and become the soul of the art center once again. LJH, CGTN, BEIJING.