Locals of Dong ethnic group sing at the ethnic art festival in Southeast China's Guizhou Province, which seeks to get visitors excited about the local culture. Photo: Courtesy of Xin Yao

Audiences watch a traditional Dong songs performance by locals of Dong ethnic group at the ethnic art festival in Southeast China's Guizhou Province. Photo: Courtesy of Xin Yao

From singing folk songs to ancient buildings, a two-week ethnic art festival in Southeast China's Guizhou Province seeks to get visitors excited about the local culture.

After the opening ceremony was held on Thursday at the 200-year-old two-story Lianghu Club in Liping county, 20 artists and architects along with 200 culture experts set off on a three-day field trip, while a folk music concert was held on Sunday.

Visitors look at paintings displaying traditional Dong songs at the ethnic art festival in Southeast China's Guizhou Province. Photo: Courtesy of Xin Yao

The Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou Province is home to a number of ethnic groups including the Dong, Miao, Shui and Yao, making it rich in cultural and natural resources.

In 2015, many of the villages in the prefecture were finally connected by paved roads. Through the government's poverty alleviation efforts, more and more artists have traveled to this area to help boost the ethnic groups' cultural development since the last county was lifted out of extreme poverty in 2020.

"The countryside is the foundation for the revival of traditional culture. Ecological civilization and rural revitalization can only be best practiced and realized in rural areas. And now we need a new green and sustainable path to advocate the development of the countryside," noted Fang Lili, professor of the School of Arts at Southeast University.

Indigo Dyeing Art Center in Southeast China's Guizhou Province. Photo: Courtesy of Xin Yao

Zidang village is the cradle of ethnic Dong folk songs, a World Intangible Cultural Heritage. Now influential cross-disciplinary artists are reinterpreting this cultural heritage in a modern way.

"As the smallest cultural unit of a living civilization, a village carries rich cultural heritage connotations. In the sound of Dong songs, I felt the sincerity and the innocent lifestyle of the villagers," said Qiao Xiaoguang, a consultant for the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association.

Global Times