![French artist Agnès Varda has returned to China more than 50 years after she first visited for a retrospective exhibition. [Photo: Courtesy of Rosalie Varda]](U371P886T1D9934F12DT20120312114450.jpeg "French artist Agnès Varda has returned to China more than 50 years after she first visited for a retrospective exhibition. [Photo: Courtesy of Rosalie Varda]")
French artist Agnès Varda has returned to China more than 50 years after she first visited for a retrospective exhibition. [Photo: Courtesy of Rosalie Varda]
Even at the age of 83, French director and artist Agnès Varda has not waned in creativity, intelligence or her playful sense of humor. Affectionately regarded as the "godmother of French New Wave," she has helped brighten the solemn exhibition hall of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
It's been 55 years since Varda was invited by the Chinese government on a two-month photo shoot across the country. Previously unpublished photographs from the 1957 trip appear in an installation titled The Chinese Gate. Her long-awaited return sees her present a unique retrospective collection of her films, photographs and video installations. "The Beaches of Agnès Varda in China, 1957-2012" opened at the academy's art museum on Saturday. It runs until April 18 and will also be shown in Wuhan and Shanghai.
Comprised of three parts, the first titled "Agnès Varda, Visual Artist" features 10 installations combining the techniques of film and photography. The second, titled "Agnès Varda, Photographer," shows series of her photographic works including the black and white and color photos she shot on her maiden visit to China. The final part, "Agnès Varda, Filmmaker," shows her early movies in the 1950s to her last cinematic documentary, her haunting self-portrait titled The Beaches of Agnès Varda.
Born in 1928, Varda embarked on her career as a professional photographer without much interest in film. Her debut film about a struggling couple, La Pointe Courte (1955), cemented her reputation as one of France's New Wave luminaries. Since then, she has been at the helm of diverse, challenging works ranging from narrative cinema to installation artworks.
"Varda is an artist with vigorous, powerful thinking and a sharp eye for detail," said museum director Wang Huangsheng at a press conference on Saturday.
"As a pioneer of narrative film, she explores the random sequences of events, coincidences, desires, needs and alienation in her films. Her style highlights the tension between realist documentation and poetic imaginaries."
"I feel I have fulfilled a dream of mine," said Varda. "We live in a world wracked by war, and culture helps us understand each other better."
When: Until April 18
Where: Central Academy of Fine Arts, Art Museum, 1 Liulitun, Chaoyang district
Admission: 15 yuan
Contact: 6502-6171
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