New Delhi: An Exhibition of Tagore Paintings was inaugurated by Kumari Selja, Union Minister of Culture at the prestigious Petit Palais Museum in Paris on 26 January 2012, as part of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Mayor of Paris Mr. Bertrand Delanoe was also present. Paris is one of the nine international venues where Tagore Exhibitions are being held and it holds a special place as Gurudev Tagore had held his first-ever international exhibition of paintings in Paris in May 1930. Currently Tagore Paintings Exhibitions are being held in Victoria and Albert Museum, London and at the Art Institute of Chicago, besides Paris. Speaking on the occasion of inauguration, the Union Minister of Culture spoke of the multifarious talents of Tagore and his choice of non-verbal communication in the form of paintings in latter part of his life.

During her 4-day visit to Paris from 26-29 January 2012, Kumari Selja, Union Minister of Culture held a high level meeting with the French Minister of Culture and Communications, Mr. Frederic Mitterrand. In the Joint Statement issued by the two Ministers after the meeting, they expressed satisfaction at the cultural relations between the two countries, particularly the festivals‘Bon Jour India’ and ‘Namaste France’held in the recent past. They agreed to work for further widening and deepening of the cultural relations and welcomed the Indian initiative of establishing a Cultural Centre in Paris. A Cultural Exchange Programme for the period 2012 to 2014, is likely to be signed between the Ministries of Culture of the two countries in the coming weeks.

In another meeting with Mr. Henri Loyerette, President-Director of the Louvre Museum, Kumari Selja, Union Minister of Culture emphasized the importance of collaboration at institution-to-institution level. A Memorandum of Understanding relating to expertise and capacity enhancement, exchange of professionals for sharing of experiences, and holding of collaborative exhibitions in India and France was initialled between the two sides. This is a first formal arrangement with the renowned Louvre Museum under which the National Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art will be the main collaborators from the Indian side. It may be recalled that similar MoUs were signed with the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Library in June 2010.