Bubbling, twirling, radiant, Jiang Qiong Er never tires of going around the owner. Or rather the tenant. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China, Yannick Lintz, appointed president of the Guimet museum in the fall of 2022, has given it carte blanche to occupy the premises in complete freedom until February 2025 And the Franco-Chinese designer didn’t do things by halves. Place d’Iéna, in the very peaceful 16th arrondissement of the capital, for almost two months, the facade of the den of Asian arts has been dressed in dark red, “a color that the Chinese associate with energy and vitality”, underlines the visual artist.
Covered with a veil of purple tulle, the cavities dug at the location of the windows of the venerable institution shelter twelve fantastic creatures, in an installation inspired by the caves of Mogao or Longmen in China, but also Altamira and Lascaux in Europe. These hybrid beings, which Jiang Qiong Er baptized Guardians of Timeeach embody “an essential value of humanity” and bear the name of Peace, Wisdom, Authenticity or Exploration. Nothing frightening, therefore, in these gently “dragonesque” chimeras borrowed from the age-old figures of the Middle Kingdom and which, coming to life and responding thanks to artificial intelligence, offer a bridge to the 21st century.
His specialty: bicultural creation
Even more spectacular at night, when clever lighting enhances it, the facade alone could have been enough to create an event at the Guimet museum, but the tireless Jiang Qiong Er wanted to extend the journey inside the walls. After the entrance hall, whose pillars are adorned with chromatic nuances – vermillion, scarlet, pomegranate, cherry, sienna… –, head towards the historic library on the first floor, where the bronze versions of the Guardians of Time form a circle of light and sound, emitting their polyglot messages in a disturbing murmur. Higher up, on the planted terrace, a vast net suspended between sky and earth is deployed, on which the words of sixty Chinese women are embroidered, evoking the notion of bravery. Here they resurrect the very ancient Nu Shu, exclusively feminine writing system unique in the world, now extinct. Finally, the route ends in the rotunda with a Introspection odorous. Five thousand bricks of pu-erh tea diffuse their discreetly heady scent, while in the center a mineral garden surrounded by “cave chairs”, on which visitors can sit, invites meditation.
The visual artist favors bicultural creation, between East and West.
/ © Frédéric Berthet
Star of the cultural intelligentsia in her native country and recognized internationally – she notably co-founded with Hermès the Shang Xia brand dedicated to the contemporary art of living – Jiang Qiong Er comes from a lineage of artists: his grandfather, Jiang Xuanyi, was among the pioneers who introduced Western oil painting to China, and his father, the architect Xing Tonghe, designed the Shanghai Museum. A jack of all trades, the forty-year-old, who masters both the paintbrush and the workings of business (it was she herself who raised funds to bring her project to life at Place d’Iéna), trained in calligraphy before study design at Decorative Arts. His specialty: bicultural creation. Between East and West, immemorial references and new technologies. In fact, his Guardians of Time eternity and modernity wonderfully merge.
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