General Secretary here talks about cultural inheritance and development: Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Art Museum

Former General Secretary here talks about cultural inheritance and development: Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Art Museum

The sound of Cantonese rhyme is deeply ingrained in the heart

As night falls, the lights on the banks of Litchi Bay are shining brightly, and the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Art Museum welcomes visitors from all directions.

"Look up at the Moxing Ridge, look down at the the Pearl River." At 7:30 p.m., on the antique Guangfu stage, the actors of the Guangzhou Boyi Cantonese Opera Troupe brought scenes of "White Cloud and Pine Waves" and other plays, which won the audience's acclaim.

This year, the Cantonese Opera Art Museum will open at night, extending its opening hours to 9pm, increasing the number of stage performances, and hosting Cantonese opera and folk art exhibitions to provide audiences with a rich experience.

General Secretary inspected the renovation of old cities and the restoration and protection of historical and cultural buildings along the street, walked into the Cantonese Opera Art Museum, and had friendly conversations with Cantonese opera fans, hoping that they would inherit and promote Cantonese opera well.

Let people appreciate the artistic charm of "Southern Red Bean"

Walking into the Guangdong Opera Art Museum, it feels like being in a delicate Lingnan garden, with pavilions, towers, small bridges, and flowing water tightly arranged in every square inch. Strolling through it, handicrafts such as golden lacquer wood carvings, gray sculptures, and pottery sculptures occasionally jump into view. Trees such as banana trees, lychee trees, and phoenix trees are intertwined with greenery, forming the living environment for the birth and growth of Cantonese opera.

"Cantonese Opera is the red bean of the south". As one of the representative local operas in Guangdong Province, Cantonese Opera combines local folk tunes in Guangdong and absorbs the advantages of Yiyang Opera, Kunshan Opera, Qin Opera Opera, Anhui Opera and other local operas, gradually developing and forming. On September 30, 2009, Cantonese opera was included in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. On June 8, 2016, the Cantonese Opera Art Museum, located at 127 Enning Road, Liwan District, Guangzhou, was opened to the public.

"We deeply feel the General Secretary's concern and importance for the inheritance and development of Cantonese opera, his confidence and sentiment in the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and his earnest expectations for the protection of cultural heritage," said Ma Nan.

The integration of static exhibitions and dynamic performances is a distinctive feature of the Guangdong Opera Art Museum.

Over the past five years, the Guangdong Opera Art Museum has continuously improved its public cultural service level, expanded its open areas, and held special cultural exhibitions on the display of pear garden buildings, Qionghua Hall, and Luanyu Pavilion in the park, which have been opened to visitors. The museum actively promotes the revitalization and utilization of cultural relics and collections, and plans to hold the "Lingnan Xiaodi Culture Exhibition", showcasing the excellent traditional cultural connotations of Lingnan from multiple dimensions.

At the same time, the museum has transformed the stage and theater into an experiential space that can be seen, heard, and touched. "The willow wind light the red apricot rain, the flowing water painting the west of the bridge, the red mansions leaning against the mountains, and the outing by the banks..." In the "100 Cantonese Opera boutiques into Guangdong Expo project", the young actors of the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Theater enthusiastically performed classic eclectics for the audience, such as "wrong meeting in the flower field", "dream meeting in the Taihu Lake Lake", and "garden trip". Actor Bi Hairong said, "In museums, audiences can immerse themselves in Cantonese opera through the display of costumes and vivid performances."

Professional theaters and civil organizations jointly promote the inheritance and development of Cantonese opera

"Cantonese opera is well-known in Guangdong," Xu Chaojiang said. From the micro renovation of Yongqingfang's "Embroidery Kung Fu" to the opening of the Cantonese Opera Art Museum, the Enning Road Old Street area is thriving year by year. "Our Cantonese opera, as well as our excellent traditional Chinese culture, should also be like this street, where old trees sprout new branches and the more prosperous, the better!"

At the Cantonese Opera Art Museum, melodious melodies can be heard from time to time. Following the sound, you can reach the center of the garden, and the Guangfu Terrace on the ridge of the eaves stands out in front of you.

On the stage, a pair of heavily dressed actors and actresses sang the classic Cantonese opera excerpt "Hua Tian Cuo Hui". Twenty or thirty tourists, separated by a beautiful pool, looked up on the stage and listened attentively. 19-year-old Chen Jiayi admitted that upon arriving at the scene, she only experienced up close the beauty of Cantonese opera singing and the splendor of her makeup.

According to the person in charge of relevant departments in Liwan District, the performances of Guangfu Channel are open to the public to recruit talents. Non professional organizations spontaneously organized by the masses can be recruited after their application is approved, and the competent department will provide a subsidy of several hundred yuan per event.

Professional theater troupes and civilian teams have jointly promoted the development of Cantonese opera. Liwan District in Guangzhou is known as the "hometown of Cantonese opera and folk art". Walking on the streets, one can often hear beautiful Cantonese opera. It goes without saying that this is also a "private partnership" that is "opening a partnership". The so-called private association refers to a spontaneously organized folk opera club.

Adjacent to Yongqing Square, the Lizhiwan Grand Theater has singing time every afternoon, 365 days a year, rain or shine.

Here, watching a play is free. On stage, the "ticket enthusiasts" were dressed in gorgeous costumes, with each move being precise and precise, showcasing their demeanor with every move and gesture; Underneath the stage, teenagers and elderly people sat everywhere, some fully focused on listening, while others gently shook their heads and brains to the rhythm.

There are about 1000 private partnerships in Guangzhou, organizing tens of thousands of various opera performances every year. Zhang Sheng, Deputy Director of the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, said that mobilizing the power of the people and allowing Cantonese opera enthusiasts to carry out artistic exchanges can better inherit and develop Cantonese opera art.

More teenagers become small spokespersons for Cantonese opera

At the Cantonese Opera Art Museum, the figures of teenagers occasionally appear. A mother told reporters, "I want my child to learn about and get close to Cantonese opera, and gain something from on-site visits.".

To inherit and develop Cantonese opera well, continuous innovation is needed to attract more young people. The person in charge of Guangdong Cantonese Opera said that in recent years, Cantonese opera art has been adept at embracing new media. The first 4K panoramic sound Cantonese opera film adapted from the stage version, "The Legend of the White Snake: Love," has been released, which is highly popular among young people. The first Cantonese song created by Guangdong Cantonese Opera has a click through rate of nearly 30 million, allowing more audiences to appreciate the youthful and fashionable beauty of Cantonese opera art.

In order to better cultivate the interest and cognition of young people towards Cantonese opera, the Cantonese Opera Art Museum and the school jointly build a children's Cantonese opera inheritance base. More than 500 students have participated in the study of basic theories, appreciation of plays, basic skills, and rehearsals of Cantonese opera. They have won numerous awards in competitions such as the National Little Plum Blossom Competition and the Guangdong Provincial Little Plum Blossom Competition, and more and more young people have become small spokespersons and inheritors of Cantonese opera.

Over the past five years, the Cantonese Opera Art Museum has received a total of 3.3 million visitors, with the younger generation showing an increasing trend year by year. The influence and radiation of Cantonese opera art continue to expand.