中文/en

Exploring Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning along the Belt and Road Forum

2023-05-22

On May 18, during the China-ASEAN cultural exchange event, a cultural forum on "Exploring Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning along the Belt and Road” was held to facilitate exchanges on intangible cultural heritage of countries and regions along the Silk Road. Experts and scholars from China and Thailand gathered together to have discussions about the topics of "the Beauty of Architectures along the Belt and Road" and "Protection and Inheritance of Intangible Cultural Heritage” at the forum.

Quote from Mr. Lv Zhou, Director of National Heritage Center, Tsinghua University - “Reignwood Group is committed to promoting dialogue and exchanges among different civilisations, the completion of the East-West Cultural Exchange Center in Thailand is the latest result of Reignwood’s efforts. From the cultural perspective, this architecture, which takes inspiration from the Renshou Hall in the Summer Palace of Beijing, reflects the traditional Chinese value of unity of beauty and goodness, embodies the traditional Chinese philosophy of ritual and music as well as the Chinese aesthetic concept of neutrality and harmony.”

Dr. Jing Feng, Chief of the Asia-Pacific Unit of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, noted in the forum that this China-ASEAN cultural exchange event will contribute to the friendly exchanges and people to people bonds among countries along the "Belt and Road" while telling the Chinese stories.

Around the inheritance and innovation of intangible cultural heritage, Mrs Shen Zhu, cultural heritage expert and consultant of Reignwood Group, expressed her views on how to make the intangible cultural heritage survive, go global and become popular. She also mentioned that the cultural exchange center symbolizes inheritance and innovation, and will play an import role in hosting more colorful cultural heritage programs and youth cultural exchange activities. Taking advantage of this cultural exchange center, China and Thailand could give full play to their respective strengths, and jointly safeguard the common heritage of human civilization.

At the forum, Mr. Wang Qijun, professor of Central Academy of Fine Arts, gave a lecture on "the Aesthetics of Architectures on the Silk Road", in which he mentioned that the ancient Silk Road was not only a path for economic trade, but also a cultural link between Asia and Europe, nourishing the civilizations of all countries.  As an important symbol of civilization on the Silk Road, ancient architecture is an important carrier of history and culture. During the speech, from the perspective of architectural aesthetics, he displayed images of splendid architectures in countries along the 'Belt and Road' in a slide show.

At the forum, Thai architecture expert Nitisak, shared the cultural expression of modern architectural design and the innovative use of cultural heritage buildings. With the opening of the East-West Cultural Exchange Center (ASEAN), it will continue to play the role of a bridge for cultural exchanges and mutual learning among countries along the "Belt and Road".