Cartier blends high jewellery, ancient Chinese artworks and AI in its ‘Power of Magic’ exhibition at Shanghai Museum East – with actresses Mélanie Laurent and Gong Li in attendance

Organised by the Shanghai Museum and supported by Cartier, the exhibition “Cartier, the Power of Magic” creates a cultural dialogue between the maison’s high jewellery collection and ancient Chinese artworks. The show is running at Shanghai Museum East until February 17, 2025. The curatorial team selected over 300 creations from the Cartier Collection and nearly 40 Chinese artworks from museums at home and abroad. The dialogue stands out as a cherished exchange, and showcases the striking resemblance between Cartier and ancient Chinese art when it comes to capturing timeless beauty. “We believe this exhibition transcends the scope of a typical jewellery showcase,” Shanghai Museum director Chu Xiaobo said at the exhibition opening. “It embodies a deeper expression of China’s cultural confidence and self-awareness through its curation.” Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, known for his gunpowder-based art, guided cAI (pronounced “AI Cai”) to design the exhibition’s scenography. A native of the southeastern city of Quanzhou, in Fujian province, Cai reminisced fondly at the exhibition opening about how the first time he left his hometown was on a coal train to see French art in Shanghai. “A lot of the time, art was my own manifestation,” he said. “But this exhibition presents a richly diverse energy that blends Cartier’s jewellery and timepieces, Chinese heritage pieces curated by Shanghai Museum, as well as a touch of the mechanical logic of AI.” “This exhibition is distinctly more analytical, taking a fresh look at the bonds uniting China and Cartier, and also at a relatively unexplored yet intrinsic aspect of jewellery: magic,” said Cartier’s image, style and heritage director Pierre Rainero in a statement. Entering the exhibition, visitors find themselves immersed in a traditional Chinese courtyard setting that exudes tranquillity and dynamism. The exhibition hall is decorated with projections on layers of silk hanging from the ceiling, evoking drifting clouds above a lake-like floor; the installation is inspired by the landscape paintings of Yuan dynasty artist Ni Zan. Jewellery and Chinese artworks glimmer like stars in the night sky. Key Cartier exhibits include an academician’s sword made in the mid-20th century for the French writer Jean Cocteau, tiaras once worn by European royalty and aristocracy, and bespoke pieces that demonstrate the breadth and depth of the maison’s style and creativity. The exhibition also draws inspiration from Chinese dragons, antiques and motifs, as well as lesser-known traditional Chinese techniques, embedded in Cartier works. Tian-tsui, which merges metalwork with shimmering blue kingfisher feathers, and laque burgauté, which uses slices from conch and clam shells that are polished and inlaid into designs, are both featured in Cartier desk clocks and cigar boxes from the 1920s. A Kingfisher-feather table screen from the Palace Museum, and a mother-of-pearl-inlaid lacquer table from Geneva’s Baur Foundation each showcase techniques of their time. In the 1970s, Cartier began to gather jewellery, timepieces and other precious accessories, leading to the foundation of the Cartier Collection in 1983. The growing collection acts as a material record of Cartier’s more than 170-year history, including its decorative art history beginning in the second half of the 19th century. As a major event of the Sino-French Cultural Spring Art Festival and the Franco-Chinese Year of Cultural Tourism, the AI-powered exhibition renews a long-standing relationship between the Cartier Collection and the Shanghai Museum, which goes back to the latter’s first monographic exhibition in 2004. Cartier global high jewellery ambassador and Chinese-Singaporean actress Gong Li, Cartier ambassador and French actress and filmmaker Mélanie Laurent, together with Cai attended the exhibition opening – alongside French ambassador to China Bertrand Lortholary, Cartier Collection director Pascale Lepeu, Cartier heritage exhibitions director Renée Frank and Cartier China CEO Cécile Naour. On the occasion of the exhibition, 400 pieces from Cartier’s Nature Sauvage high jewellery collection were also brought to the storied City Hall Plaza on The Bund for a client-only preview.