MEISSEN COUTURE Signs Strategic Cooperation Agreement With China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing

Intercultural bridge of fine art between Germany and China

Beijing – Only one day after the German Athletes of the Year 2014 received their Pegasus trophies made of Meissen porcelain at the Sportpresseball in Frankfurt, MEISSEN COUTURE®’s CEO Christian Kurtzke travelled to China.

The purpose of the trip is to prepare the opening of the two largest flagship stores of the umbrella brand MEISSEN COUTURE next year, first in Beijing and then later in Shanghai, as well as to pave the way for introducing MEISSEN®, the brand with 300 years of tradition, in mainland China.

A further decisive step towards this goal was achieved today. In Beijing, Christian Kurtzke signed a strategic cooperation agreement between MEISSEN COUTURE® and the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), represented by its president, Professor Fan, a former president of the National Art Museum of China, ‎Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association, and chairman of the Art Museums Committee in China.

CAFA is China’s most renowned and influential national academy of fine arts, design, and architecture. It is directly subordinate to the Chinese Ministry of Education. Admission is highly competitive: only 10% of applicants to this renowned academy of modern art are accepted every year.

As part of their strategic cooperation, MEISSEN® and CAFA want to build a bridge of modern art between China and Germany, with a special focus on promoting the significance and development of high-value porcelain objects internationally.

Concretely, the two partners plan to cooperate in the organization of a Chinese Contemporary Porcelain Art Biennale to take place at the National Art Museum of China and the CAFA Museum. This Biennale is to serve as a platform and pioneer for outstanding porcelain art and design, as well as for innovative Chinese artists. The best works of the Biennale will receive the MEISSEN® Fine Art Award.

MEISSEN®’s CEO Christian Kurtzke is delighted to have a most experienced partner for the organization of this exhibition. Professor Fan has gained wide acclaim as chief curator of the Chinese pavilion of the 50th and 51st Venice Biennales, and also as curator of the exhibition of Chinese painting in the 20th century, and the exhibition of contemporary Chinese art during the Chinese-French year.

As part of the strategic partnership, outstanding Chinese artists will have the opportunity to realize art projects in Meissen porcelain together with German artists in Meissen, as part of the MEISSEN COUTURE® artCAMPUS programme.

In the spirit of learning together and learning from one another, the partners are also planning a regular exchange between MEISSEN® artists and Chinese artists in China, combined with exhibitions. A special focus will be on young, emerging artists as well as on the promotion of the creative potential of premium, modern porcelain in contemporary art.

“Our brand core is and has always been the creation of art. I’m absolutely certain that the strategic intercultural cooperation of the two renowned institutions CAFA and MEISSEN COUTURE®, this building of artistic bridges between two worlds, will also bring us at Meissen a step forward and contribute to us opening up our artistic horizons even more. And not least, we are forging new paths for the future of premium porcelain all over the world”; says Christian Kurtzke.