Van Wely travelled to Beijing, and discovered that Dutch expertise could be put to use.

“After the last emperor was deposed and the Forbidden City was transformed into a museum in 1925, no new clock makers and restorers were educated in China,” he says.

“We soon discovered the Chinese did not have the expertise to take care of their own treasures. Substantial parts of the collection that I saw were in a horribly neglected state.”

The second time he visited China, Van Wely proposed that the Utrecht Museum would help the Chinese restore several clocks and teach them how to do it themselves.

In exchange, the Chinese would lend some pieces to the Utrecht museum for an exhibition.

The project costs some 1.5 million euros, most of which is financed by the Dutch authorities and private partners. The Chinese were requested to finance one tenth of the budget.

“They were tough negotiators,” says Van Wely, adding that he received training prior to the negotiations with the Chinese to familiarize himself with the culture.

The Chinese ultimately agreed to cover around 140,000 euros of the entire budget. In return, eight of their pieces will be renovated, and their restoration experts will be trained.

“Restoring the whole collection would take hundreds of years,” says Van Wely, who says the Chinese are very eager to make contact with the West.

“We requested an independent Dutch film maker, Pieter Fleury, to film the entire process for a documentary. The Chinese even permitted him to film unrestricted in the Forbidden City. That is unprecedented.”

In March, the first delegation of restorers and curators from Bejing is due to arrive in Utrecht.

“We look forward to it,” says Van Wely, “it will be a wonderful cultural exchange.

1|2

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 1000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email