THE FORBIDDEN CITY IN MONACO: IMPERIAL COURT LIFE IN CHINA
From July 4 to September 10, 2017
The "Forbidden City in Monaco: Imperial Court Life in China" exhibition was entrusted to two commissioners: Jean-Paul DESROCHES, Honorary General Curator - head of the Chinese Department at the Musée Guimet in Paris - and WANG Yuegong, Director of the Imperial Life Department at the Forbidden City.
Coming mainly from the former palace of the Chinese sovereigns, the selection of works, which total nearly 200 exceptional pieces, was also supplemented by loans from major European and American collections (Cernuschi Museum, Louvre Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington). Designed to replicate a visit to the Forbidden City Palace - the cradle of imperial power for nearly three centuries - the layout travels through the emblematic places (Temple of Heaven, Throne Hall, Buddhist Temple, Temple of the Ancestors and Tea Pavilion) to its imperial gardens, immersing the public in a journey through the history of a multi-millennial civilisation. The scenography of the exhibition approaches the history in a modern and didactic way thanks, in particular, to the presence of two models of monumental temples made of sandalwood (China Red Sandalwood Museum, Beijing), unpublished audio-visual archives and an immersive visit into to the heart of the Forbidden City Palace.
