Is China’s rise driving an Asian art renaissance in Europe?

In the Mediterranean island of Porquerolles lies a newly opened art museum that adopts a door policy comparable to that of a sacred temple in Asia. Visitors wishing to enter the building hidden in the middle of a national forest to view artworks by some of the world’s biggest names are required to take their shoes and socks off, and have a sip of a herbal drink to cleanse their minds before they can embark on an art journey. Upon the completion of a barefoot museum tour, visitors are cleansed by the smoke of incense before their departure and continue on in the sculpture garden.

“It’s like a spiritual retreat,” says Charles Carmignac, director of Fondation Carmignac, the new museum situated on the island off the South of France. “We normally walk on concrete in shoes. It is a separation between you and yourself. But here you have to go barefoot and touch the earth. It is a Zen experience, a meditation.”

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The museum, which opened its doors last month, is home to works of art by some of the most familiar Asian names. Paintings and sculptures by the likes of Zhang Huan, Wang Keping and Yoshitomo Nara are shown side by side with those by Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli. Most of the works are from the private collection of Charles’ father, self-made billionaire Édouard Carmignac, who has a net worth of US$1.7 billion according to Forbes. His foundation, located far away from the city, a full integration with nature and the local community of 300 people living on the island, reminds visitors of the Benesse Art Site Naoshima on the islands of Seto Inland Sea in Japan.

Charles Carmignac admits the Asian influences are part of the concept behind the foundation. An entrepreneur and guitarist for French-American band Moriarty, which has toured Asia extensively, including Hong Kong, Carmignac says he admires Asian philosophy and the tradition of respect for nature as displayed by the Benesse Art Site Naoshima. He plans to have more Asian elements featured in the museum in future. “The inaugural exhibition shows different aspects of the collection and next year we hope to be more connected to the Asian aspects, having shows that allow for the contemplation of nature,” he says.

Fondation Carmignac is not the first European institution to feature Asian art and elements. There is an increasing interest in Asian art – both classical and contemporary – at museums and art spaces in Europe, where institutions are fostering closer ties with their Asian counterparts as the continent has gradually become an area of attraction beyond economic reasons.