Oversized wigs, knee-high socks, tight fitting jackets, kitsch fancy footwear and high heels – all these forms part of a French and Napoleonic image seen and re-seen on canvases, films and other forms of expression. Now at the Art Museum of Macau, artifacts from the First French Empire (1804-1815), can be seen until July 14. Furniture, tapestries, clocks and other objects form part of the exhibition “Treasures of the Imperial Palaces”, which opened this year’s edition of Le French May festival, with a program that extends to June 23 in both Macau and Hong Kong.
The show, dedicated to the aesthetic cultivated by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) is the first of a series of activities planned for Macau, where the festival, organised by the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, has grown over the years.
The message communicated by the event organisers during the inauguration of the 2013 edition of the festival on this side of the Pearl River Delta, is reinforced with the growth of the program in relation to previous years.
Still in the area of visual arts, Macau will exhibit the show “Living Sculptures” until June 14, by Franco-Argentine Pablo Reinoso, in the One Central shopping mall and Mandarin Oriental hotel.
At the Tap Seac Gallery visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the work and photographic theory of the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007). Over his life Baudrillard developed several theories about media, mass communication and the impact these mechanisms have on reality. On this occasion Baudrillard the photographer will take centre stage, in an exhibition that consists of 50 photographs.
Classic and modern
Showing the most obvious and classic elements of French culture, and adding a touch of modernity that allows one to get to know the real country – as it is today – is one of the major intentions behind this festival, according to Pascal Casanova, from Alliance Française Macau.
“We want to show what is perhaps ‘cliché’, the general knowledge that we have of France and its past, those things that are part of history, but at the same time we want to show the contemporary side to the new generations”.
On June 8, the Kafig Company will present the show “Boxe Boxe”, also at the Cultural Centre. Combining urban dance moves with martial arts, the show, conceived by choreographer Mourad Merzouki, engages the audience in an ambience that is more sensual than violent, where bodies play a central role.
Using compositions by Mendelssohn, Schubert and Philip Glass, Merzouki brings hip-hop and street art to the noble space of theatre halls. With a dash of humour and an element of circus art, “Boxe Boxe” is a contemporary dance production, and at the same time a treatise on violence and the power of the body.
Jean Cocteau and the Roaring 20s in Hong Kong
In 21 years of the festival, this is the first time that Le French May has a theme – and the theme is the 1920s, those “Roaring Twenties“ that were a kind of renaissance in the twentieth century. To celebrate, Hong Kong will host, among many other exhibitions and shows, a show dedicated to Jean Cocteau (1889-1963), the multifaceted artist who marked an era and influenced the likes of Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Amadeo Modigliani and Henri Matisse.
From May 4, the exhibition space of Hong Kong City Hall will house 230 works by Cocteau, as well as works by some of his contemporaries, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death.
Hong Kong will also receive a selection of sculptural works by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), which will be on display at the Sarthe Gallery between May 16 and June 22. A series of bronze pieces, including the world famous ‘The Thinker‘, will offer audiences an opportunity to learn about the work of one of the fathers of modern sculpture.
Les Tambours du Bronx will present a percussion performance that will take to the stage of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on June 1, immediately following the ‘Yo Gee Ti‘ show, performed in the same space on May 30 and 31, by choreographer Mourad Merzouki.
Cinema is once again present with a homage to the 1920s and the cinematography of Luis Buñuel, Rene Clair and Jean Cocteau. Recently premiered period films recreating the “crazy years” of Paris will be screened. “Coco Chanel and Igo Stravinsky”, “La Vie en Rose”, “Therese Desqueyroux” and the animation “Belleville Rendez-Vous” are some of the films that can be seen over the coming months.
