From April 26th to 28th, the 2023 China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education Forum, hosted by the Center for International People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education and the China-Europe Education Alliance for Humanities and Arts, and organized by Nanjing University of the Arts, was successfully held. Nearly 200 leading guests, experts, scholars, and art educators from both domestic and international government agencies, alliance member units, and from enterprises, institutions and social organizations engaged in China-Europe humanities and art education gathered at Nanjing University of the Arts to give their insights on the theme of “China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education: Exchange, Integration and Development” and have in-depth discussions, share the sparks of ideas on the past, present and future of China-Europe humanities and arts education, with fruitful results achieved.
On the morning of April 27th, the opening ceremony of the Forum was held. The attendees included Du Kewei, Director of the Center for International People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education, Du Peng, Chairman of the China-Europe Education Alliance for Humanities and Arts and Vice President of Renmin University of China, Shi Xiaoying, Counsellor of the Department of European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Level Two Inspector, Xia Juan, Executive Vice Chairman of the China-Europe Education Alliance for Humanities and Arts and Deputy Director of the Center for International People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education, Yang Shubing, Deputy Director of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, Novruz Çeta, Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of Albania in China, Breuer-Zehevi Adam Daniel, Counsellor for Education and Culture of the Embassy of Hungary, Yu Feng, Secretary of the Party Committee of Nanjing University of the Arts, Zhang Linghao, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Nanjing University of the Arts, Xie Jianming, Vice Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of Nanjing University of the Arts, Francesco D'Arelli, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai, Zhang Chun, member of the China-Europe Education Alliance for Humanities and Arts and Secretary of the Party Committee and Dean of the School of Arts at Renmin University of China, Liang Jiu, Professor of Fine Arts and Design at the School of Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University, Jean-Francois Vergnaud, French representative of the Sino-French Institute at Renmin University of China, Marc-Antoine Camp, Professor at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland and Director of the Music Education Ability Research Center, Han Zhong'en, Professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Arakelyan, Distinguished Associate Professor at the School of Music, Nanjing University of the Arts, and Kou Qin, member of the China-Europe Education Alliance for Humanities and Arts and General Manager of the China Guardian Art Center. The opening ceremony was hosted by Xie Jianming.
Speech by Yu Feng
Yu Feng, on behalf of Nanjing University of the Arts, warmly welcomed the guests. He pointed out that Nanjing University of the Arts has always adhered to the academic concept and school spirit of Mr. Liu Haisu's “blending Chinese and Western cultures and embracing inclusiveness”, closely followed the goal of “international first-class education with Chinese characteristics”, and persisted in taking internationalization and higher-level opening-up as an important strategic orientation. With a more open attitude, the university continuously deepens its academic cooperation along with humanities and arts exchanges with well-known European universities, strives to integrate into the overall development trend of the world's higher arts education. Through the China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education Forum platform, the university will establish long-term and close relationships with relevant departments, institutions, and art schools in Europe, carry out more extensive and in-depth cooperation in the field of humanities and arts education, and use culture to convey ideas and art to spread voices, making more positive contributions to promoting understanding between China and European countries, and mutual learning between civilizations.
Speech by Du Kewei
Du Kewei pointed out that 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, as well as the 10th anniversary of the proposal of the 'Belt and Road' initiative. The forum held on the theme of “China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education: Exchange, Integration and Development” is a practical measure to actively promote Sino-European bilateral cooperation in humanities and arts education, as well as to promote cultural exchanges between China and other countries and enhance people-to-people ties. In the course of this exchange and cooperation, we need to jointly practice and promote the concept of humanistic exchanges that values people, promotes openness and equality, respects and tolerates diversity, appreciates and understands each other, interacts and learns from each other, works together for mutual benefit, adheres to correct views of righteousness and interests, and strives for sustainable development. Focusing on the themes of humanities and arts education and youth development, we can work together to promote people-to-people ties and cultural exchanges between China and Europe.
Speech by Du Peng
Du Peng stated that this forum focused on the conference theme and arranged seven sub-forums, aiming to provide a platform for educational exchanges in different fields of humanities and arts and to build consensus for promoting communication and exchanges between diverse civilizations. The China-Europe Education Alliance of Humanities and Arts will continue to enrich the content of humanities and arts exchanges, create more internationally influential brand projects, persistently make efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and contribute outstanding strength to creating a bright future feature “Beauty with Diversity and Integrity & World with Harmony and Unity”.
Speech by Shi Xiaoying
Shi Xiaoying pointed out that the relationship between China and European countries has ushered in a “warm spring”. Recently, leaders of China and Europe have frequently met, demonstrating to the world their positive willingness to continuously enhance friendly cooperation and push the relationship forward and upward. Cultural exchanges can help deepen mutual understanding, enhance mutual trust, inherit friendship, reduce misjudgment, and better establish the social and public opinion foundation for the development of China-Europe relations. China-Europe cooperation and exchanges are a forward-looking and win-win cause. It is hoped that more institutions and friends will join the cause of China-Europe cultural exchanges and work together to create a more harmonious and beautiful future for China-Europe relations in the next 20 years.
Speech by Yang Shubing
Yang Shubing said that Jiangsu is a major province of education and opening up, and arts education is an important field in the layout of higher education in Jiangsu. In recent years, Nanjing University of the Arts has insisted on the principle of taking root in China and looking out at the world, and taking art and culture as the medium, actively participated in important foreign exchanges and interactions of China and Jiangsu, and promoted excellent Chinese culture and people-to-people communication between China and foreign countries through high-level artistic exhibitions and performances. This forum will further deepen the communication and exchanges in the field of humanities and arts education between China and Europe, promote deeper and higher-level cooperation between Chinese and European universities, and provide new methods and strategies for art education in Jiangsu, China and Europe and even the world.
Speech by D'Arelli
D'Arelli believes that in today's world where connectivity is becoming a reality, cultural exchange is more important than ever for universities, museums, cultural institutions and society as a whole. It helps to break down barriers and build bridges of communication; it promotes empathy and understanding by breaking down prejudices; it raises awareness of the value and importance of cultural heritage and strengthens its protection; and it helps to share knowledge and deepen our understanding of the diversity and richness of human culture and history.
Xie Jianming Hosted the Opening Ceremony
After the opening ceremony, the conference moved on to the keynote speech session, which was hosted by Xia Juan.
Speech by Zhang Linghao
In his keynote speech titled “Multi-disciplinary Integration and Innovation to Promote Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning between China and Europe”, Zhang Linghao elaborated on the efforts and explorations made by our university in terms of integration, innovation and development between Chinese and foreign humanities and arts from four aspects: international talent cultivation, international scientific research platform construction, academic exhibition and performance exchanges, and international communication expression. He pointed out that Nanjing University of the Arts has been committed to training high-level international art talents with a global perspective, and promoting opening up of education to achieve high-quality connotative development; focusing on improving international discipline construction to build an international scientific research cooperation platform with great influence; carrying out diverse international academic exhibition and performance exchanges to lay a good foundation for humanities and arts exchanges between China and Europe; strengthening cultural innovation and inheritance to promote the global sharing and expression of Chinese culture.
Speech by Vergnaud
In his keynote speech titled “Exchange, Integration: Unexpected Achievements and Development of Sino-French Higher Education Cooperation”, Vergnaud summarized the characteristics of Sino-French education cooperation by citing three examples of Sino-French education cooperation in different periods: the Fuzhou Ship-building Bureau during the Westernization Movement, the Movement of Going to France for Work-Study Program in the early 20th century, and Sino-French arts education cooperation in the late 1980s and early 21st century. He explained how the three examples of Sino-French education cooperation have responded to the three key words of the Forum – “exchange, integration, and development” - in their own ways.
Speech by Han Zhong'en
In his keynote speech titled “The Presentation of Music as Both Individual and Collective: An Analysis of Music Ontology”, Han Zhong'en used relevant ontology and phenomenology to define terms and concepts and raised questions. He then approached the topic from related fields, discussing issues in art, history, aesthetics, and philosophy one by one. Through a comparison of different paradigms between China and the West, he further explored the concept of “integrating all sounds into music” in Chinese aesthetics and the integrated artistic imagery achieved in Chinese aesthetic practice.
Speech by Kou Qin
In his keynote speech titled “Building a Bridge for Cultural and Artistic Exchange between China and Europe: The Diverse Art Practices of Guardian Art Center”, Kou Qin introduced Guardian Art Center's practices in Sino-European arts exchanges and education. He stated that Guardian Art Center will continue to strengthen communication with various European countries in culture and arts through platforms of the China-Europe Education Alliance for Humanities and Arts and the Center for International People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education.
Xia Juan Hosted the Keynote Speech Session
During the roundtable discussion, five Chinese and foreign guests, Zhang Chun, Liang Jiu, Breuer-Zehevi Adam Daniel, Marc-Antoine Camp and Arakelyan, discussed and exchanged ideas on the topic of “China-Europe Humanities and Arts Exchanges and Cultural Innovation in China's Modernization Process”. The atmosphere was warm and active. The roundtable discussion was hosted by Professor Zhou Jun from Nanjing University of the Arts.
The Roundtable Discussion Session
In the seven sub-forums held in the afternoon, conference attendees exchanged ideas on a range of topics, including “New Era - New Ecology - New Design & Art Promoting Rural Revitalization”, “Cross-disciplinary & Cross-cultural Arts Cooperation for 2035”, “Development of Humanities and Arts Education for Youth”, “Cultural Inheritance and Exchanges in the Asian-European Civilization Area”, “Eastern Perspectives on Music Performance Theory”, “Intercultural Communication and Film Localization”, and “Co-existence and Co-prosperity between Technology and Arts: New Dimension and New Vision of Design”.
That evening, the closing ceremony “Star · Sight · Night Talk” and the handover ceremony of the organizer of the China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education Forum were held. The closing ceremony was hosted by Qi Yue, Executive Secretary of the China-Europe Education Alliance of Humanities and Arts and Deputy Dean of the School of Arts at Renmin University of China. Dong Songshou, Vice Chairman of the Alliance, delivered a speech on behalf of the China-Europe Education Alliance of Humanities and Arts. Xie Jianming gave a summary speech and together with Wang Xiaojun, Vice President of Chengdu University, completed the handover ceremony for the forum's organizer. The 2024 Sino-European Humanities and Arts Education Forum will be organized by Chengdu University.
The Handover Ceremony of the Organizer
On the afternoon of the 26th, the Council Meeting of the China-Europe Education Alliance of Humanities and Arts was held at Nanjing University of the Arts, attended by 32 council members or representatives. The meeting listened to reports on the overall work of the Alliance and its 2023 work plan, deliberated and approved new alliance council members, councilors, and alliance member units, launched the compilation of the Blue Book of China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education Exchanges, and discussed amendments to the Alliance's charter and the Working Methods for Applying to Host China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education Forum. The meeting agreed to add three new institutions, including Beijing Guardian Art Center Co., Ltd., as alliance council members, appoint three new councilors, including Kou Qin, and add four new member units, including Zhaoqing University. So far, the Alliance has a total of 39 council members and 86 member units.
Council Meeting of the China-Europe Education Alliance of Humanities and Arts
During the forum, the “Beauty with Diversity and Integrity & World with Harmony and Unity” 2023 China-Europe Humanities and Arts Education Forum exchange performance was a wonderful showcase. Teachers, students and artists from Nanjing University of the Arts and Chengdu University - College of Chinese and ASEAN Arts presented brilliant performances. The event was full of excitement and unique programs such as New Horse Racing and Autumn Harvest received enthusiastic response from the audience present at the venue.
