Talent show highlights Qingdao as cultural city
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Singers and dancers from Qingdao at this year's Kings of Arts competition, which also had participants from South Korea and Japan. |
From August to November, more than 50,000 residents in the coastal city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province competed in a talent show called Kings of Arts.
Contestants competed in singing, dancing, opera, music and comedy competitions. Participants also came from Niigata, the capital and most populous city of Japan's Niigata prefecture, and Cheongju, the capital of South Korea's North Chungcheong province.
Qingdao, Niigata and Cheongju were named Cultural Cities of East Asia in November 2014, with an award ceremony for the three cities held during the annual China-Japan-ROK Cultural Ministers' Conference the following month.
The Kings of Arts competition is part of the local authorities' efforts to highlight Qingdao as a "Culture City of East Asia".
The three cities vowed to work together to host a number of cultural exchange activities, performance shows, art festivals and training programs in the near future.
Residents from South Korea and Japan will be welcomed back to the Kings of Arts competition in Qingdao next year. Li Ming, chief of the Qingdao Culture and Broadcasting Bureau, said the city's goal is to promote the preservation of cultures in the three countries and enhance cultural communication among cities in East Asia.
"The Culture Cities of East Asia program is expected to enhance cultural diplomacy, display the cultural charm of Qingdao and build a long-term communication mechanism for the future."
This year, Qingdao has held a number of events to display its local cultures.
In July, the city held Qingdao Cultural Week, which presented watercolor paintings, city photographs, acrobatics, walnut sculptures, paper cuttings and performance from the three Asian nations.
This fall, a series of public arts events called the Everlasting Sculpture invited 15 top international sculptors to create works.
In March, more than 60 artists from China, Japan and South Korea took part in the Qingdao International Painting Festival, with more than 120 paintings on display.
Qingdao has also sent 11 delegations with more than 200 people to join cultural activities this year in Japan and South Korea.
In return, the city has received visits from seven delegations from South Korea and Japan.
Lastly, the Meet in Qingdao folk music concert in November introduced traditional music from South Korea and Japan.
"Qingdao will continue to maintain close contact and increase exchanges with museums, art galleries, libraries and schools in Cheongju and Niigata," said Li.
Next year, Qingdao will send its symphony orchestra to Japan and South Korea. Qingdao's top artists in singing, dancing, opera, stringed instruments and comedy will also visit the two countries.
To further cultural exchange, the city is organizing a folk music summer camp for youths from the three nations to promote traditional East Asian music.
Li said Qingdao also plans to work on cultural cooperation projects with cities in Europe, the Americas, as well as in the Middle East next year.
xiechuangjiao@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 12/30/2015 page10)
