Arts and crafts to the fore

Qinghai has special place in Nigerian cultural center program

The culture of ethnic groups in Qinghai province, West China, will be a feature of exhibitions at the Chinese Culture Center in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, this year.

By the end of the year about 50 performing artists and handicraftsmen will join local people in Nigeria in an effort to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries, says Fu Guodong, of Qinghai provincial department of culture.

"Later in the year, Qinghai will send trainers of two national intangible cultural heritage items paper-cutting and qiasi painting to Nigeria, together with about 30 performers of traditional singing and dancing of the Tibetan, Tu and Salar ethnic groups."

In qiasi painting, copper wires on wooden panels are used to outline pictures, which are filled in with natural pigments. Paper-cutting, specifically from eastern Qinghai, is known for its bold composition and vivid presentation of people, plants and animals on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Qinghai provided free training in qiasi painting last year in Benin, where the first Chinese cultural center in Sub-Saharan Africa was built. About 10 trainees now keep in contact with their tutors through the Internet and teach the craft to more locals.

"The craft was been widely praised, and some local people make a living from it, so we are planning to offer the same training in Nigeria," Fu says.

In addition to the Qinghai events, the Ministry of Culture will soon send a Chinese martial arts tutor who graduated from Beijing Sport University to Abuja to support trainers in Chinese language and martial arts.

Wang Xinming, a publicity official with the ministry, says the center has hosted more than 30 events including exhibitions, movie screenings and lectures in the past few months.

"The center has become a popular venue for Nigerians, including officials, academics and other members of the public who want to learn about Chinese culture."

Artistic troupes in Abuja sometimes use the center for rehearsals. Scholars often use the library to do research on China.

Ke Yasha, who helped found the center and is a former counselor of the Chinese embassy in Canberra, Australia, says that at the outset the center was meant to be a long-term project involving locals.

"When we curated the first exhibition, Chinese Painters' Depiction of Africa, we invited Nigerian painters to offer their advice. We hired local staff and have been building contacts with local schools, so that when we have new cultural programs, local children will know about them very quickly."

Cultural exchanges with African countries will continue to expand, Ke says. For example, a cultural center in Tanzania is planned.

liuw@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/16/2014 page26)