1/3/2021
Specially curated by Lakeside Arts in partnership with Nottingham Confucius Institute, a pre-recorded gala programme - "Chinese New Year Digital Celebrations 2021" was made available online to help UoN staff, students and local residents celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Ox between 11-26 February.
The 60-minutes programme was filled with variety, delivered with passion by talented regional and national performers including renowned guitarist Xuefei Yang, the wonderful erhu player Ling Peng, the hugely talented Dans Chinese Dance family, cookery with Lan's Recipes, brush painting by Feng-Ru Lee, magical face changing from Shuai Zhao and a delightful reading of the story behind the Chinese Zodiac by Dr Lan Lo. We also enjoyed fabulous contributions from our sister campuses with traditional dance and tai chi from students and staff in China and an amazing drumming spectacular from Malaysia.
We were honoured to have Vice Chancellor Professor Shearer West give the welcome speech and Chair of NCI Professor Robert Mokaya give closing remarks. Both leaders warmly thanked Lakeside Arts and NCI along with everyone involved (the performers and staff from the UK, China and Malaysia) for their effort in making such a wonderful show available despite all the difficulties caused by the pandemic. Professor West spoke about how UoN’s official Chinese New Year celebrations entered the public domain in 2005 and coincided with the first anniversary of the University's campus in Ningbo China, highlighting how the celebrations have grown in momentum over the years, becoming an ”annual fixture in the city’s cultural calendar.” NCI is very proud to have joined its efforts with Lakeside Arts, Nottingham City Council and other local councils to contribute to these celebrations since 2010.
The show was viewed in hundreds of households, mainly in Nottingham, but also in China, Malaysia and the US. All event tickets were free, with the audience invited to make donations to University of Nottingham Hospitals Charity (Help Your Hospital Appeal). With the fundraising campaign still ongoing, the amount raised will be announced in due course.
~ENDS~
Posted on Monday 1st March 2021