Nanjing seeks upgraded cultural and art development

The Streaming down the Yangtze team is in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province and the second largest city in East China.

Photo shows the Nanjing Museum. [Photo: IC]

Situated in the Yangtze River Delta region, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital of various Chinese dynasties.

The city is also the center of art in Jiangsu, with some of the leading art groups of the country based there.

For more on this we are now on the line with CRI's Yang Guang, who earlier talked with the curator of the Nanjing Museum and visited art centers in the city.

The Nanjing Museum is already one of the largest museums in China. Is the museum seeking kinds of exhibitions? What can visitors expect from the museum in the future?

Yesterday we had a chance to talk with the curator of the Nanjing Museum Gong Liang. The Nanjing Museum has over 400,000 items in its permanent collection. Especially notable is the museum's enormous collections of Ming and Qing imperial porcelain, which is among the largest in the world. But Gong Liang told us the new pattern of the exhibition would not be limited by the reputation or the significance of one particular exhibit, but focus more on the story and whole history and culture the items present. He gave us an example- some carbonized rice at the neolithic age. The rice is not comparable to to other renowned antiques in terms of its value or fame. But it proved that agricultural activities have started in this region some 8000 years ago. So the museum is expected to have more of these displays in the future that don’t necessarily include world-known relics but use some small items to tell a story or a period of history.

Photo shows the Nanjing Museum. [Photo: China Plus/ Yang Guang]

The Nanjing Museum is also working with other countries’ museums to co-exhibit at its site. We also visited two of these kinds of displays yesterday. One is a Jurassic World exhibition and the other is a European painting display collaborated with a gallery from Czech Republic. 

What can you tell us with regards to Nanjing's latest art development?

The latest art related news of the city is the opening of Jiangsu Center for Performing Arts. The center is one of the largest of its kind in the world and includes a 1500-seat concert, a 2200-seat opera house and a 1000-seat drama theater. The facilities of the center are all world class, able to hold most of the large-scale shows. The center was opened in 2017 and in the one year operation some top class philharmonic orchestras and dramas have been performed here. 

I had talked with a fan in classic music in the center and she told me that with such a place set up in Nanjing, she barely missed one concert held here. She also said local government of Nanjing has constantly subsidized the performance center to help organize concerts, so often the ticket for audience is 50 percent off, which is a good benefit for fans like her.

The staff of the performance center said that the attendance rate of the center almost reached averagely 50 percent last year and this year they aim to organize more Chinese characterized concerts and dramas and attract more audience.

That was CRI's Yang Guang with the Streaming down the Yangtze team.