To celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, the Guimet National Museum of Asian Art invited Chinese artist Jiang Qiong Er to create this year's major art project, “Guardians of Time,” which was exhibited on the exterior facade of the museum and in four iconic spaces inside the museum. The project presented a dialogue between world civilizations full of human strength and cultural atmosphere, calling on people to reconnect and regain the wholeness of life.
This year's Light Festival features 11 iconic cultural and historical sites in Montpellier, including the Montpellier Botanical Garden (Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier), the Opera-Comédie (l’Opéra-Comédie), the Saint-Pierre de Montpellier Cathedral (la Cathédrale Saint-Pierre), Saint-Roch Church (l’Église Saint-Roch), the House of International Relations (Maison des Relations Internationales), and the Notre-Dame des Tables Basilica (Notre-Dame des Tables), among 11 other iconic cultural and historical sites, making a stunning return to transform Montpellier’s city center into a magical world of light and shadow, showcasing breathtaking technical, creative, and artistic beauty. The event attracted over 420,000 visitors who explored and experienced Montpellier's precious and rich cultural heritage.
This year's City of Light - Light Festival theme is: “Montpellier's History and Its Relations with the World” (Montpellier, son histoire et ses relations avec le monde). Jiang Qiong Er was invited to participate, bringing her work “The Guardians of Time - Twelve Calls” to shine here. Jiang Qiong Er's work “Twelve Calls” explores the world with an open perspective, drawing inspiration from China's and the world's long-standing history and culture, and using forward-thinking to create future myths within history. At this year's Montpellier City of Light and Shadow - Light Festival, she dressed twelve spiritual creatures in the attire of time, seeking the form of human meaning. From the Guimet Museum in Paris to the West Bund Art Fair in Shanghai, and now to Montpellier's City of Light, Jiang Qiong Er uses her powerful urban art language to sacredly, humanely, and warmly rebuild the community of this era in these spiritual gathering places.
At the historic French art academy, now the International House of Public Relations, Jiang Qiong Er reimagines rituals of time, integrating the “Twelve Calls” into the experience. Jiang Qiong Er's twelve spiritual creatures faintly appear in various corners of the park, inviting the public to stroll between human civilizations and feel the past and present. They hide behind the leaves, as if floating among them, their shimmering colors harmonizing with the surrounding natural environment. The Twelve Divine Creatures emit multilingual whispers, filling the nights and days with their voices. Each beast symbolizes a spiritual value calling for the current human community, representing authenticity, compassion, inclusivity, peace, equality, kindness, time, exploration, courage, nature, wisdom, and freedom.
At the park entrance, the large-scale artwork “Freedom,” standing over 3 meters tall, stands tall and joyful. At night, it guards these values with its own light, witnessing the passage of time from the past, present, and future. As free as time, as eternal as freedom. “Freedom” invites the public to traverse space, join the twelve divine beasts, and enter a moment of temporary meditation, becoming guardians of time.
As free as time
As eternal as freedom
Listen closely, reach out, open your heart
— Feel the call of freedom
March fearlessly toward the horizon
Soar beyond the boundaries and obstacles beneath your feet
Cross into a present more ancient than the past
And more vast than the future
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