On July 17, 2024, the opening ceremony of the exhibition took place, celebrating the 33rd Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Miss France Alicia Aylies, UNESCO Deputy Director-General Ambassador Qu Xing, Minister Chen Li of the Chinese Embassy, Miss Paris 2024 Aurore Germain, Evelyne Ciriegi, President of CROSIF, Pascal Tebibel, Vice-President of Orléans Métropole, Yannick Caillet, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Heritage of Saint-Denis…
This event was organized by the Empreinte 100 Ans Committee of the France Chine Partenaires Association.
This exhibition follows the success of the event held on May 7 at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium. It aims to commemorate the centenary of the Paris Games from 1924 to 2024, the founding goal of the Empreinte 100 Ans Committee, as well as the deep friendship and cooperation between France and China in the field of culture and art. As the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Coubertin’s spirit became the inspiration for the exhibition, and through sculpture as an art form, the perfect fusion of the Olympic spirit and Sino-French friendship was presented to a worldwide audience. The exhibition coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and with the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, which holds particular historical significance. Among those in attendance were Mr Claude Guéant, Jean Anguera, Gérard Desquand, Jean-François Larrieu, Marie-Laure de Villepin, Pascal Gentil, Ryadh Sallem, Evelyne Ciriegi, Prince Bokassa, Alicia Fall…
This event was awarded the Cultural Olympiad label by Paris 2024, and is supported by numerous organizations, including the Paris Olympic and Sports Committee, CROSIF, La Maison des Artistes, and the Taylor Foundation…
The exhibition features 33 sculptures, representing the 33rd Olympic Games. France’s international dialing code is +33. 3×3=9, which in Chinese culture represents the highest rank and longevity.
The exhibition brings together sculptures created by eminent Chinese artists, mainly from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts. These works not only showcase the artists’ exceptional talent, but also innovatively integrate 3D printing technology and the use of environmentally friendly materials, offering visitors an unprecedented visual experience. The sculptures are based on the theme of Coubertin and the Olympic spirit, and each work carries profound cultural and sporting connotations, allowing the public to appreciate the beauty of art while feeling the power of sport.
The exhibition will run from July 18 to September 10, thus covering the entire period of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Our goal is to promote the Olympic motto « faster, higher, stronger, together », to better communicate the Olympic values of friendship, respect and excellence, as well as the Paralympic values: determination, equality, inspiration and courage.
We hope to receive your support for the exhibition « Empreinte 100 Ans – Sculptures of Pierre de Coubertin », which will continue to travel the world until the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA.
Claude Abeille, Sculptor
Member of the Institut de France, President of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 2014
« Mr. Jingshi FENG
Dear Sir and friend, I admit that I was deeply moved and full of admiration when I saw the exhibition of sculptures that you initiated and organized on the occasion of the Paris Olympic Games.
I am glad that the French creator of this event, Pierre de Coubertin, was the subject proposed to the Chinese sculptors, and that he was thus able to inspire their talent.
Pierre de Coubertin had a face quite characteristic of France at the end of the nineteenth century, with that thin moustache turned up at each end, which is less fashionable now. The Chinese sculptors made very good use of this detail, but they also knew how to broaden the subject and, through the magic of their personal style, offer a very wide panorama of contemporary artistic movements.
We thus saw the whole range of interpretations of the reality of a face, from the emphasis on objective features to a construction of abstract forms capable of expressing, in another way, the values and qualities of the man who was its subject.
It is an advantage of Art in general, but especially of sculpture, to be able to directly convey important human ideas and feelings in this way — something that everyday language, the language of words, can sometimes only convey with difficulty.
I myself became aware, once again, of this quality of sculpture that allows immediate understanding between sculptors, when I encountered the sculpture of Wu Weishan during a trip to China while I was President of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France. I saw at once that we spoke the same language and were saying the same thing. The beauty of the world and the enigma of its presence.
I believe it is this encounter that strengthened this friendship, built on respect and admiration, between French and Chinese artists.
It is to be hoped that the happy initiative of this exhibition of busts of Pierre de Coubertin, created on the occasion of the Paris Olympic Games, will be echoed — perhaps in another form — at the time of the Los Angeles Olympic Games. »
– Claude Abeille
Opening evening of July 17
Opening night photos
