32 countries sign up to new Silk Road arts festival network
The Network of Silk Road Arts Festivals was officially established today, with 124 organizations from 32 countries joining as members.
Based on the network, a series of programs will encourage collaboration, sharing and discussion about art exchange and development among the member organizations during the 19th Shanghai International Arts Festival, which also opened today.
That includes Silk Road Arts Festivals Development Forum, Silk Road Showcase and Video Presentation, Silk Road-themed culture weeks and Silk Road performances at the festival fair.
The officially established network is actually a result of the arts festival’s efforts since 2015, with a series of Silk Road-themed activities participated in by art organizations and festivals from the region, said Wang Jun, president of the Center for Shanghai International Arts Festival.
Four bilateral agreements have been signed through these activities since 2015, and more than 80 cooperation intentions were reached.
Original Chinese works such as Tan Dun’s symphonic poem “Women’s Script,” Wang Yabin’s dance theater “Tsing Yi” and Xiban Band’s musical movie “Sever” won performance contracts with overseas organizations through the platform.
“While the festival’s Performing Arts Fair initiated in 1999 provides a big and open platform for performance trade among all countries, the newly established Network of Silk Road Arts Festivals leans a bit more toward the collaboration among its members,” said Wang.
For example, a particular promotion fair is set for the members, where they can enjoy more convenient and intense communication and exchange. On top of that, while purchasing is more widely accepted for art trade at the festival’s Performing Arts Fair, program exchange has been quite common among the network members over the past few years.
“We will together explore more feasible ways to support exchange among the members, so as to set up a better network that encourages creation, collaboration, trade and joint development in the art industry,” said Wang.
