19 January 2020
On 18 January 2020, the Expert Meeting on Traditional Performing Arts was held at Shanghai Theater Academy (STA). The theme of this meeting was Inheritance and Innovation of Traditional Performing Arts in the Context of Globalization. The meeting gathered experts of traditional performing arts from countries along the Belt and Road. The forms of traditional performing arts represented at the meeting included Gagaku, Kunqu Opera, Cantonese Opera, ancient Greek drama and traditional dance of Bangladesh etc, which are listed by the UNESCO as the world's intangible cultural heritage. The meeting was jointly organized by International Theatre Institute (ITI) and STA.
Attendees of the meeting included Tobias Biancone, Director-General of ITI, Ji Guoping, Vice President of ITI and Vice Chairman of China Theatre Association, Ramendu Majumar, Honorary Chairman of ITI and dance expert from Bangladesh, Savvas Patsalidis, Professor of Theatre, History and Theory, Drama Academy of National Theatre of Northern Greece, Mita Noriaki, Gagaku performing artist from Japan, Levan Khetaguri, Director of Georgian Institute of Art Research, Fredric Mao, Artistic Director of Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and director of Cantonese Opera, Huang Xiangong, Director of Shanghai Library Historical Archive Center, Professor Chung Won Chung of Pusan National University in South Korea, Wang Chang'an, Vice Chairman of Anhui Federation of Literary and Artistic Circles, and Gong Baorong, Professor of STA etc.
Yang Yang, Vice President of STA, delivered a welcome speech on behalf of STA. He said: “Traditional art is very valuable, but it also faces new challenges. Different countries have different experiences. At this meeting, artists from different countries can share the experiences of success and lessons of failure, exchange with each other, and grow together. STA is very happy to provide a good platform for artists around the world to engage and exchange. At the same time, STA can also communicate and carry out exchange with the large number of traditional performing arts experts from many countries along the Belt and Road.
All kinds of traditional performing arts with a long history are treasures of human culture and also one of the best evidences of the diversity of human culture. In the new era, in the face of new challenges, how to achieve the inheritance, development and innovation of traditional performing arts is an issue that the global performing arts community needs to focus on. At the meeting, experts from different countries made presentations on how to inherit and develop the traditional arts of their respective countries.
