A glimpse into the golden age of Paris

From a 6-meter-by-6-meter dismountable house, to vintage jewelry, to garments and an original Citroen car, the new exhibition at Power Station of Art in Shanghai takes audiences on a retrospective journey through the emergence and prosperity of modernity in the golden age of Paris.

Featuring more than 300 objects, such as architectural models, photographs, films, garments and new digital animations, Paris Moderne 1914-1945 Architecture, Design, Film, Fashion was curated by renowned architectural historian Jean-Louis Cohen, architect Pascal Mory, and fashion history expert Catherine Ormen.

According to Cohen, Paris saw the pinnacle of its influence on the country, Europe and the world during the period between the two world wars, becoming a laboratory of modern technology and culture.

He points out that both cinema and fashion reflected the aspirations of the new urban bourgeoisie and set the stage for modern dreams during this period, which saw craftsmanship as well as new spatial and visual strategies emerge.

Meanwhile in China, Shanghai was also going through a period of rapid development, gaining prominence among the cities of China and becoming known as "the Oriental Paris", says Gong Yan, director of Power Station of Art.

As such, the exhibition aims to draw parallels between Paris and Shanghai, two metropolises whose cultural and historical trajectories have intersected and influenced each other. Cohen explains the choice of location of the exhibition as the "Paris of the West in the Paris of the East."

Gong had, as early as 2016, invited Cohen, one of the leading scholars in 19th-20th century architecture and urbanism in Europe and North America, to create an exhibition about the legendary architect and urban planner Le Corbusier (1887-1965).

"We did not expect the curator to not only bring to Power Station of Art an exhibition about Corbusier, but also his city at the time when he lived," Gong said at the opening of the exhibition on July 21.

Beneath the surface-level glamour and innovation, the exhibition also seeks to elucidate the deeper sociocultural transformations of Paris in the 1920s.

Ormen, the curator for the fashion section of the exhibition, says: "Modernity is the keyword to the exhibition: Live fast, forget about the past, forget about the war."

This philosophy, she notes, underpinned the rapid progress and transformation witnessed in Paris during the period, setting the stage for modern dreams and placating the damages of postwar trauma.

Chen Leyang contributed to the story.

If you go

Paris Moderne 1914-1945:

Architecture, Design, Film, Fashion

July 21-Oct 20, Tuesday-Sunday, 11 am-7 pm (last admission at 6 pm).

Power Station of Art, 678 Miaojiang Road, Huangpu district, Shanghai.