The President of the Acropolis Museum Dimitrios Pandermalis (L) guides the Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (C) at the opening of the exhibition "From the Forbidden City: The Imperial Apartments of Qianlong" in Athens,Greece, on Sept. 14, 2018. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
ATHENS, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- An unprecedented exhibition on Chinese Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) was inaugurated on Friday evening at the Athens Acropolis Museum in the context of cultural exchanges between Greece and China.
During the opening ceremony Greek and Chinese officials expressed confidence that the exhibition which opens on Saturday to the public and runs until Feb. 14, 2019 will contribute to the better understanding of Chinese culture and bring the two peoples, as well as East and West closer.
The 154 artefacts which were put on display at the Acropolis museum on loan from Beijing's Palace Museum left the Forbidden City for the first time ever and were not open even to the Chinese audience for many years, organizers said.
Visitors of the exhibition "From the Forbidden City: The imperial apartments of Qianlong" will have the chance to admire ceremonial robes, thrones, his study desk, his bedroom and other furniture and functional objects from the Emperor's private apartments at the Palace of Many Splendors (Chonghua gong).
Strolling through the halls they will get a glimpse into the life of the longest serving emperor (1735-1796) in Chinese history who put a significant mark on his country, doubling its soil, its population, bringing prosperity to people and promoting culture, organizers explained.
Addressing Friday's ceremony Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos stressed the importance of the dialogue between civilizations in boosting understanding across the world.
"Only through the dialogue of civilizations can this world find peace... I believe that each time our two civilizations meet in such events here, in China and anywhere in the world the contribution is significant not only to culture, but peace worldwide and we need to support this exchange," he said.
"Both China and Greece are great civilizations, culture exchange is an important part of the bilateral relations," Zhang Qiyue, Chinese ambassador to Greece, said on her part, delivering a speech.
"This exhibition reminds us that no bilateral relationship can be complete, if it does not include cultural exchanges, if t does not open up to the deeper understanding between the two peoples, their history and civilization," Greek Deputy Culture Minister Konstantinos Stratis said.
Addressing the event Li Xiaocheng, Deputy Director of the Palace Museum in Beijing, and the President of the Acropolis Museum Dimitrios Pandermalis explained why the two sides chose to bring to Greece a part of this unique collection from the Forbidden City.
"Chonghua witnessed the life of Qianlong, so it is a special building complex with deep feeling... This exhibition is based on the archive of Chonghua. We selected 154 pieces. It recounts his life, and also works as a window for Chinese tradition culture," Li said.
"The goal of the Acropolis museum is to bring Greeks and the museum's Western visitors closer to the Chinese civilization and offer them an opportunity to understand the difference and charm of this culture and eventually find the common characteristics between the East and the West," Pandermalis added.