In workshops of the Forbidden City, China restores part of its treasures

In a workshop in Beijing’s Forbidden City, a restorer of antiques leans over a centuries-old figurine, wielding a cotton swab to carefully clean its dusty corners after years in storage. Only a small fraction of the 1.86 million objects housed in the museum of the former imperial palace in the Chinese capital are on public display. They are presented in rotation, according to rotations and exhibitions.

Under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who regularly calls for better protection of cultural heritage, the preservation of ancient objects has intensified. Thousands of these cultural treasures are currently being restored, in the hope that once their youth has been restored, they will be presented to visitors to the former palace of the emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Last week, on a government-organized tour, AFP visited the bright workshop in a wing of the ancient Forbidden City. Workers in latex gloves tend to the precious objects, gently buffing and polishing them to restore the lanterns, jade pendants and timeworn paintings to their former glory.

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A restorer uses a fine brush to carefully touch up a chipped statue head, while another coats an ancient scroll from the Qing Dynasty with liquid.

"This restorer is restoring the edge of the object, that is, the ornamental material of its support," explains Ma Yue, head of the museum's calligraphy and painting conservation section. "The restoration of this piece is quite representative of our work, because we have to base ourselves on the original elements, whether it is in terms of the support, the materials used, the color palette or even the degree of aging."

In the public part of the museum, the achievements of the conservation teams are already visible to the thousands of daily visitors who walk through the ancient Forbidden City. Some dress in traditional costumes to have their pictures taken along the red walls of the vast complex. The opening of a new cultural center in Beijing in October will significantly increase the number of ancient artifacts restored each year, according to the museum.

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The Forbidden City was converted into a museum in 1925 after the expulsion of the then-deposed last emperor, Pu Yi, and his court. The museum is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Its collection includes paintings, calligraphy, bronze, gold and silver objects, ceramics and textiles, covering almost all forms of Chinese art from prehistory to modern times.

The museum and its works were threatened several times in the 20th century, including during the Japanese invasion and the Chinese Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of objects were removed by the Chinese government at the time to prevent them from falling into the hands of Japanese troops, who had invaded several parts of China.

Many pieces from this collection were later transported to Taiwan by the Nationalists after their defeat by Chinese communist forces and their flight from the mainland in 1949. The museum established a conservation team in 1952.

Throughout China, a large number of art objects and places of historical value were damaged or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) by fanatical youths targeting symbols of the imperial past.