The 2nd Roundtable Meeting of Education Institutions of Arts along Silk Road was held at Shanghai Normal University on Friday.
The event, part of the Arts Plus Program of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF), intends to present a variety of special activities for audiences spanning from preschool children to young adults.
“Arts education is always one of the significant parts of CSIAF. It is the festival’s lifeblood. We serve not only current audiences but also potential audiences,” said Wang Jun, president of CSIAF.
The meeting brought representatives of around 20 art institutions from six countries together to discuss effective means of cooperation in arts education.
“My topic is about the conditions that lead to great arts education. The support from society as a whole for arts education is so crucial,” said Alan Fletcher, president and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Founded in 1949, the Aspen organization is regarded as one of the top classical music festivals in the United States. The typical eight-week summer season includes more than 400 classical music events and is a favorite of music students.
“I have been in Shanghai many times but this is my first time at Shanghai International Arts Festival. The quality of the performances is striking. I would love to come back and bring wonderful performances to the festival. Meanwhile, perhaps bring artists from China to our program in Aspen,” Alan said.
Last year, the meeting reached a consensus on a plan to promote the cooperation and development of art education institutions along the Silk Road.
It stresses sharing and cooperation in teaching and learning resources, performance resources, and creative resources.
On the strength of the consensus, three performances presented by art institutions along Silk Road were staged during this year’s festival.
In addition, a dance summer camp with the theme “Silk Road Expression” was organized by the Center for CSIAF and the Gdansk Shakespeare Theater in Poland in July and August.
Twenty students from the school affiliated to Jinyuan Senior High School in Shanghai joined the camp in Gdansk and gave a dance performance together with Polish students.
“At the very beginning, students were shy and didn’t know what to say. But a few days later, they started to communicate and cooperater. We are looking forward to having more cooperation with CSIAF in art education program,” said Maria Gostynska, head of theater and arts department of the Gdansk Shakespeare Theater.
