"Welcome to Biennale des Antiquaires! If you don't come, the event will certainly be incomplete," Jean-Daniel Compain, the artistic director of Paris Biennale des Antiquaires, extended his invitation several times during an address to Chinese attendants at a recent reception at the official residence of French Consul General in Shanghai.

From May 19 to 23, Compain, together with Dominique Chevalier, chairman of the board of directors of the biennale, paid a visit to three Chinese cities - Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing - to promote this high-end art event to the Chinese. It is the first time the biennale, inaugurated in 1962, has promoted its event in Asia.

The 2016 biennale, organized by Syndicat National des Antiquaires, will be held at the Grand Palais in France from September 10 to 18, witnessing more than 120 top-quality exhibitors from around the world showing off their antique arts, furniture, jewelry, and horlogerie collections. The scale is much larger than the last, which hosted just 74 exhibitors.

"Asia and especially Shanghai are very important for us for a lot of reasons," Compain told the Global Times. "Chinese culture is really something amazing. We want to bring and attract more collectors, curators and Chinese buyers to Paris, because the biennale is probably the most beautiful event of its kind in the world."

In order to attract Chinese visitors, especially professionals dealing in antiques and fine arts, the biennale will introduce new services in Asia. They include flight booking and hotel reservation services, a VIP lounge and a private tour, in which visitors will be arranged in small groups to visit off-limit places in Louvre and Musée d'Orsay.

Collectors and curators

In recent years, a growing number of international dealers have become interested in the biennale, which has a highly professional team to select its exhibits. The biennale's international committee is chaired by Henri Loyrette, former director of the Louvre museum, and composed of art dealers, collectors and curators. There are also 80 experts on hand to verify the authenticity and quality of the items before they appear. This year nearly 40 percent of exhibitors were from outside of France.

There will be three significant non-selling exhibitions inside the fair. One is presented by St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum, featuring 40 exhibits from the 18th century that have never been shown outside the museum. Another, by French Mobilier National, features French furniture from the 20th century. Meanwhile, Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie will present a wide array of famous watches, from brands such as Cartier, Bvlgari and Piaget.

Currently there are no Chinese exhibitors at the fair other than a Hong Kong-based jewelry brand. Compain and Chevalier told the Global Times that they expect to see a growing number of Chinese exhibitors there in the future once word gets out about it in the Chinese mainland.

Guests mingle at a reception at the residence of the Consul General of France in Shanghai.

 

(From left) Jean-Daniel Compain, Dominique Chevalier and Consul General Axel Crual

Photos: Courtesy of Biennale des Antiquaires

 
Newspaper headline: Biennale des antiquaires