A French contemporary art exhibition is scheduled to open Oct. 29 in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province.

The exhibition, entitled "City Red Dressing," will be the largest and highest-level exhibition on contemporary art ever hosted in Jinan, said an official with the Jinan City Cultural Bureau.

It will be co-sponsored by the China International Painting and Art Association, the Jinan Cultural Bureau and the Lyons Art Center in France.

As an important part of the "French Culture Year in China," the current exhibition will reciprocate to the activity called "Red Decoration of the Eiffel Tower" held in Paris during China's Spring Festival period early this year.

Sixteen renowned French artists will each create a large outdoor installation. Their work will remain in Jinan after the exhibition is over.

The exhibition will be attended by many top-level contemporary artists including Laurent Gaudin, Philippe Durand, Ann Veronica Janssen, Bruno Serralongue.

This year is the 40th anniversary for the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France. To mark the occasion, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated in crimson for five nights during the Spring Festival, the most important festival in China.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2004)