A special photography exhibition hosted by the Confucius Institute at Université d’Artois in France, themed “When a Chinese Garden Meets France: Through the Lens of a Photographer — Hou Bowen Photography Exhibition (Quand le jardin chinois rencontre la France: un regard d’un photographe HOU Bowen)”, has been successfully presented at QSP Galerie in Roubaix (Lille) and Espace F360 Galerie in Paris. Through the medium of photography, the exhibition vividly showcases the creative concept of the Chinese Garden annual Exhibition at the Louvre-Lens. La Voix du Nord, a leading newspaper in northern France, has covered the exhibition in a special feature.
Hou Bowen interviewé pendant l’exposition - BAR QSP Galerie, Roubaix - Le 28 mars 2026 - ©Photo de Xing Min
The Chinese Garden is a significant international project designed by Associate Professor Leng Tian from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Nanjing University. It innovatively reinterprets the wisdom of traditional Chinese garden design by using contemporary materials and technologies, and is situated within the grounds of the Louvre-Lens in France. The photographer, Hou Bowen, a 2008 master's graduate of the same school, spent 16 days on location, using his lens to capture delicate moments of this Chinese garden in northern France.
Thirty photographic works and video installations attract numerous local visitors. Unlike conventional architectural photography that focuses on objective documentation, Hou Bowen centers his creation on narrative. He treats photographs as frozen moments from moving images, endowing each frame with a sense of temporal continuity and rich imaginative space.
Through his lens, daily life of local residents in Lens breathes life into the garden: children picking up tiles and tossing them onto the roof; young people passing through the translucent metal-mesh cloud wall, leaving rippling light and shadow on the ground; couples sharing pizza on stainless steel “pingji” tables; students sketching the Guan Yun Feng Stonewhich is structured with stainless steel… These vivid moments lend literary warmth to the sleek stainless-steel architecture, embodying the humanistic care which is embedded in Leng Tian’s design and allowing French visitors to experience the charm of Chinese gardens directly.
In his artistic statement, Hou Bowen shared his layered reflections: the stark contrast between the coal gangue hills of Lens and the serene Chinese Garden gave him a complex embodied experience of shifting between heaviness and tranquility. Through a creative logic of “double translation”, he conveyed cultural meaning from classical gardens to contemporary architecture, and then to photographic art.
As he repeatedly entered and exited the garden, he experienced a constant reversal of identity— between “outsider” and “insider”. Far from his homeland in China, he gained a deeper understanding of the spiritual essence of Chinese gardens, echoing the philosophical thought that one truly comes to know one’s hometown only after leaving it. This idea aligns perfectly with the Confucius Institute at the Université d’Artois mission of promoting cross-cultural understanding.
M. Pasquale Mammone, ancien président de l’Université en conversation avec Hou Bowen, BAR QSP Galerie, Roubaix, 28 mars 2026 - ©Photo de Xing Min
The exhibition marks an important achievement in nearly two decades of cooperation between the Confucius Institute at the Université d’Artois and its partners. In an interview with La Voix du Nord, Eric Rigollaud, director of QSP Galerie Roubaix, stated that Hou Bowen’s works vividly capture the philosophy of“Unity of heaven and humanity”in Chinese gardens, reconstruct the poetry of Chinese Garden through modern techniques, and build a vivid visual bridge for Sino-French cultural exchanges.
During the exhibition, local audiences explored the Chinese Garden at the Louvre-Lens through photography and experienced the modern vitality of traditional Chinese garden art. Many visitors commented that the works helped them rediscover a cultural landmark in their community and sparked a strong interest in Chinese culture.
As a key platform for Sino-French cross-cultural exchange, the Confucius Institute at the Université d’Artois is committed to fostering intercultural dialogue. This photography exhibition is not only a brilliant artistic presentation but also a vivid practice of Sino-French architectural and cultural exchange — from Leng Tian’s innovative design to Hou Bowen’s visual translation.
A series of supporting activities including round table forums and video displays have been held in the duration of exhibition, further deepening dialogue and cooperation between China and France in the fields of architecture and culture.
Exposition à l'espace F360 Galerie, Paris - Le 6 avril 2026 - ©Photo de Hou Bowen