Tai Kwun Conversations: The Living Monument — Heritage Transformed by Cultural Imagination

EVENT DESCRIPTION

This edition of Tai Kwun Conversations will explore how heritage sites and cultural institutions can remain relevant and accessible in contemporary society, drawing on examples from the Grand Palais and Paris Olympic 2024. Led by Didier Fusillier, a prominent cultural leader with extensive experience in managing major arts institutions and public cultural programmes, the discussion will examine how historic places can be activated through culture, creativity and large-scale public events while maintaining their heritage significance.

Through reflections on cultural programming, audience engagement and the adaptive use of landmark sites, the programme will offer perspectives highly relevant to Tai Kwun’s mission of connecting heritage, arts and community, and will foster cultural exchange between Hong Kong and France on the evolving role of heritage in public life.

The conversation will be conducted in English, with simultaneous Cantonese interpretation.

Tai Kwun Conversations: The Living Monument — Heritage Transformed by Cultural Imagination, under French Rendezvous @ Tai Kwun Series, is exclusively sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

Speaker:

Didier Fusillier | President, GrandPalaisRmn

Moderator:

Mehdi Brit | Executive Director, French May Arts Festival

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Didier Fusillier is a leading figure in the French cultural landscape. Throughout his career, he has held various prominent positions in major arts projects and institutions in France. From 1993 to 2015, he served as the Director of the Maison des Arts de Créteil (MAC), where he founded Lille3000, a major European cultural event. Since 2015, he has been President of the Park and the Grande Halle of La Villette in Paris, transforming La Villette into a premier hub and cultural complex for arts, music, and exhibitions. In 2023, he was appointed President of the GrandPalaisRmn, where he oversees the Grand Palais in Paris and the Musée du Luxembourg, collaborating with about 20 other partner museums. Didier Fusillier has received numerous honours, including the Grand Prix National de l’Entreprise Culturelle in 1991. He was named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2017, Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in 2026, and Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2021, and was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun in 2019.