Donghua University partnering with local arts organizations

Three arts organizations – Power Station of Art, Fosun Foundation and Suning Art Museum – have become Donghua University’s off-campus partners to promote art education for its students.

The three organizations will provide artistic resources and venues for the university’s art education initiatives.

The university has been promoting art education for years, and has established more than 100 art education courses, such as Chinese folk music appreciation and Chinese opera culture appreciation.

It also has five art troupes – choir, Chinese orchestra, Western orchestra, dance and opera – with more than 200 members. These troupes have delivered many memorable performances. Among them, the Chinese orchestra has performed in Kenya and the choir has won top awards in several international competitions, including the “Singing the World” international competition of choirs and vocal ensembles in St Petersburg, Russia.

Qiao Yue, a graduate student in the university’s college of textiles, is a member of the dance troupe. She said the training every weekend is what she likes most about university life. The troupe performs every year during the university’s new semester and graduation ceremonies, as well as at other university events and around the city.

“The troupe helps me understand what beauty is and how to create beauty,” Qiao said. “Whenever I face challenges in my life, I think about how our troupe members practice again and again to create beautiful dances. I hope my performances add joyful moments to other people's lives.”

The university’s college of fashion and design is also a source of art education for students, with annual activities such as the Donghua Fashion Week, graduation shows and design exhibitions.

Under a program launched in 2008, the university has also organized lectures, themed activities and special performances on campus. Among them, art masters such as Qian Yuefang, an inheritor of Gu-style embroidery, have taught 50 classes in the past five years, attracting 30,000 students.

A play about the university's former president Qian Baojun has also been performed.