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To enhance public understanding of the intangible cultural heritage and culture of Guizhou, the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China and the Home Affairs Bureau are jointly presenting "Genesis and Spirit: A Showcase of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Guizhou". This large-scale cultural event includes an exhibition, three talks and two song and dance performances, is organised by the Department of Culture of Guizhou Province and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), and is held in association with Hong Kong United Arts Cultural Exchange Centre Co Ltd. The opening ceremony of the event was held today (June 6) at Hong Kong Central Library.
Officiating guests at the opening ceremony included the Vice-Minister of Culture, Mr Dong Wei; the Director-General of the Department of Culture of Guizhou Province, Ms Xu Ming; the Acting Secretary for Home Affairs, Ms Florence Hui; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung; the Deputy Director-General of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the Ministry of Culture, Mr Sun Jianhua; the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, Mr Ma Shengde; and the Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Ms Belinda Wong.
Running from now until June 16, the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Guizhou" exhibition is one of the highlight programmes of this cultural event. Selected from about 4 700 intangible cultural heritage items of Guizhou, the exhibition features 42 items taken from the 11 artistic categories of embroidery, paper, silver, clay, wood, bamboo, dyeing, lacquer, images, herbal medicine as well as pictures and paintings. Twelve representatives of Guizhou's intangible cultural heritage have been invited to give live demonstrations at the exhibition. Supplemented with illustrations and text, the exhibition will give visitors an insight into the colorful characteristics of Guizhou's intangible cultural heritage and its traditional craftsmanship. A stage has also been specially set up in the gallery for live performances by ethnic Miao, Buyei, Dong and Gelao artists to perform traditional opera, music, dancing and the famous Shiqian puppet shows.
The Hong Kong Central Library is located at 66 Causeway Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. The Exhibition Gallery is open from 9am to 8pm daily. Admission to the exhibition is free.
For details of the exhibition, please visit the webpage of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum at www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/eng/exhibitions/exhibition_details.aspx?exid=206, or call 2108 8188.
To tie-in with the exhibition, three thematic talks will be held at 11am, 2.15pm and 4.15pm in Activity Room 1 of Hong Kong Central Library on Sunday (June 9). Titled "The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Guizhou in vision of ethnic culture", "Miao Costumes – A dressed history book in the spiritual world of National Intangible Cultural Heritage" and "Blue Flower Narrating – Ancestors Workshop and Memory to Everyday life of Ethnic Groups from Mountainous Guizhou", the talks will reveal more about the conservation of intangible cultural heritage in Guizhou. The talks will be conducted in Putonghua. A maximum of 80 seats will be available for each session on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission to the talk is free. To register, please call 2180 8260. The application form can be downloaded from the Hong Kong Heritage Museum's website or submitted online. For details of the talks or to download the application form, please visit the website of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum at www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/eng/programmes/public.aspx.
Other highlights of the event include two song and dance performances on the intangible cultural heritage of Guizhou to be staged on June 14 and June 15 at 8pm at the Auditorium of Sha Tin town Hall and Tsuen Wan Town Hall. For details of the performances, please visit the website of LCSD at www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/dance/program_266.html.
Ends/Thursday, June 6, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:49
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