Ningbo vitalizes village through art

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province has made significant headway in rural vitalization through art in recent years.

To enrich the lives of locals, Cixi, a county-level city in Ningbo, appointed 24 volunteers as village "art heads" in 2021.

The volunteers are members of various art associations and were appointed to different villages and communities in Cixi. Each art head must offer more than 30 art lessons for locals every year.

Shi Shuzhang, a member of the Dramatist Association of Zhejiang Province and the art head Daomingshan Community, teaches Yueju Opera every Saturday.

"We're all fans of him, and now we're his students," said Chen Xiafen, a resident of Daomingshan, excitedly.

Art experts also play an important role in rural vitalization in the city's Ninghai county.

Over the past three years, Ninghai has cooperated with more than 10 colleges, such as Renmin University of China in Beijing and Donghua University in Shanghai, to invite art professors and students to join in renovating the village.

Due to help from the team of Cong Zhiqiang, an associate professor at Renmin University of China, Gejia village in Ninghai was changed from a plain village lacking in tourist attractions or signature industry to a popular place to visit. Cong also taught villagers to make full use of local materials in art innovation.

"The development methods vary based on the village. We encourage villagers to participate in the development and more artists to establish studios in rural areas," said Yang Jing, director of the Ningbo Federation of Literary and Art Circles, when talking about the next steps in promoting rural vitalization.