2022Int'l Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage Along the Silk Roads & Changsha

At the scene. (Photo/Zhang Dingfeng)

The offline activity of the 2022 International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage Along the Silk Roads & Changsha Media Arts Festival was held at the Xie Zilong Photography Museum in Changsha on December 14.

The theme of the forum is "Youth Creativity Promotes Cross-cultural Dialogue and Addresses Global Challenges". It aims to promote exchanges among young people around the world, guide young people to follow the trend of history, bear their responsibility and contribute their strength to global sustainable development. The forum is held both online and offline. Youth representatives from countries along the Belt and Road will attend a virtual dialogue with domestic and foreign youths in Beijing, Changsha and Nanjing.

The 2022 China (Changsha) Youth Media Art Exhibition and the 2022 Changsha "Media Arts Promoted on Campus" Excellent Works Exhibition were launched on site. Young media artists and entrepreneurs made keynote lectures. Professor Shahbaz Khan, director of UNESCO Beijing Office, delivered a speech via video link.

Themed "Let's Enjoy the Beauty of Media Arts", the 2022 China (Changsha) Youth Media Art Exhibition displays the works created by nearly 30 emerging young media artists. The artists were invited from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, China Academy of Art, Tama Art University, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Fine Arts Academy of Hunan Normal University, and many other universities at home and abroad.

The Changsha "Media Arts Promoted on Campus" series activities have been held for four consecutive sessions. This year, teenagers from Denmark's Viborg, also the "City of Media Arts" in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, were invited to interact with teenagers from Changsha. More than 4,000 entries were received, involving paintings, calligraphy, photography, digital art and creative programming works.

Luo Xiaoqu, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Changsha Municipal Committee, said that the International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage Along the Silk Roads is held under the framework of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. It is initiated, participated in and spread by young people. It has become one of the most influential international youth cultural exchange activities in China.

It serves as an important platform for cultural exchanges between Changsha and countries along the Belt and Road and between Changsha and member cities of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network; opens a window and builds a bridge for Changsha's culture to "go global" and for young people from other countries to "come in"; and vigorously promotes exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.