Curtain rises on the 2024 Shanghai Citizens Art Festival
The 2024 Shanghai Citizens Art Festival opened on Saturday featuring diverse cultural events across the city.
The annual festival, an influential cultural brand of Shanghai, will run throughout the year with more than 1,000 cultural and art activities.
At Yunjian Hall Culture and Art Center in Songjiang District, an exhibition showcases the city’s consistent efforts and achievements in public aesthetic education over the past decade.
Cultural market, intangible cultural heritage experience and a mini art exhibition on a mobile art-themed bus are also offered.
A grand cultural performance gathered teams and groups to display their talents in music, dancing and traditional theater.
Many of the acts such as street dance and a cappella have been awarded in various competitions of the festival in recent years.
The iconic YOUNG Theater in Yangpu District became a charming scene for the public to appreciate a variety of art forms, as Saturday was also the theater’s opening day.
Award-winning Kunqu Opera artists Shi Xiaming and Shan Wen staged the Kunqu Opera classic “1699: The Peach Blossom Fan” and showcased the elegant postures and vocals of the time-honored art.
Visitors also witnessed how Metaverse, artificial intelligence and virtual reality were incorporated into diverse city walk routes and programs, which enabled them to obtain a multi-dimensional aesthetic education experience.
Meanwhile, Yangpu District released an Art Fun booklet that includes abundant information about the district’s cultural venues, exhibition and stage performances.
This quarterly manual will provide citizens and tourists with a comprehensive and in-depth guide to artistic and cultural experience in the district.
In Xuhui District, the 500th performance of the Weekly Concert at Xujiahui Park was held with piano guidance, opera singing performances and instrumental ensemble.
As the city’s first public-interest lawn concert in the park, the concert featured performances by outstanding graduates of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Additionally, 113 art institutions across the city, including Shanghai Museum, China Art Museum and Shanghai Grand Theater, also presented multiple events of art experience on Saturday for both citizens and expatriates to learn more about the charm of theater and folk arts.