2025-08-14
Porcelain, fans, pagodas – the fact that Europeans have been fascinated by Asian art for years is nothing new to us. Already in 17th-century accounts, there are signs that chinoiserie will soon reign supreme on the old continent. In the 19th century, Japanese art broke popularity records among Parisian collectors. However, since the turn of the century, Asian artists have begun to make their presence felt in salons and bohemian circles.
The curatorial team at Singapore's National Gallery decided to tell their stories. The exhibition ‘City of Others’, dedicated to artists of Asian origin who worked in interwar Paris, will run until 17 August.
The structure of the exhibition is based on thematic divisions. The first part focuses on the influence of Asian art, especially lacquerware, on European design. The next part shows Paris in terms of the tension between colonial power and anti-imperialist opposition. This is followed by topics such as dance, exhibitions, private and social life, and finally World War II.
Exhibitions of this type – focusing on artists with a specific identity, often unrelated to each other personally – are popular, although difficult to organise.
It seems that the exhibition in Singapore was based on meticulous research, and the team came to new insights, particularly in terms of case studies in tracing cross-cultural influences. The presented point of view, which emphasises the influence of French artistic tradition on immigrants, reverses the roles in the narrative of European fascination with Asia.