On November 1, 2017, Changsha was designated as the “City of Media Arts” of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), the first in China. The UCCN platform becomes a major boost for building Changsha into an international hub of culture and creativity and improving the city’s international presence.
In the recent years, media arts have become a catalyst for the city’s industrial development; they help render better life and make Changsha an even more popular destination by integrating media arts into every aspect of people’s life.
Since 2017, Changsha has held the International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Roads for three sessions, contributing to the Belt and Road cooperation and further integrating culture into sustainable urban development. In 2020, a special dialogue on the Forum was held to share the global youth experience in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The “C+C Global Youth Innovation Partnership Plan” was also launched, demonstrating Changsha’s international responsibility. Based on UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), Changsha’s cultural and creative industries have accelerated their pace of “going global”, with 15 enterprises and six projects selected as National Key Enterprises and Projects of Cultural Exports in the past two years.
Changsha has organized a series of activities on “Changsha-Hello, Media Arts!”, to improve the city’s culture and creativity. Changsha has also set up media art experience courses such as digital music, digital video and digital painting in primary and secondary schools and integrated media art with architectural design and public space. With the deep integration of media arts and traditional industries, Changsha has incubated new creative industries such as creative fireworks and digital video, attracting more than 250,000 talents every year and creating an output of the cultural industry exceeding 31,391,760 USD.
As a national cultural industry park and an “incubator” of leading companies in the cultural industry, Changsha is providing a platform for innovation and creativity in the media arts and offering the best resources and services to creators and dreamers.
Translated by 张维虹