Local Opera for the People

ALTHOUGH audiences forChina’s traditional opera aredwindling,certain local op-eras are still pulling in large num-bers of people.One of these is thehuagu(flower-drum)opera in Hun-an Province.In the past theee years local ar-tists in Hunan have created fouroutstanding modem huagu operas:AStory of Shiliuwan,Gong and Drum ina Village,A Field Hopes and PrivateSavings.These all reflect the livesand activities of farming people in     

Who’s counting whom? Non-National museum attendances in the UK: part 1

ABSTRACT

This paper is the first part of a study on visit numbers to UK regional and local museums. It reviews the limited past research on the topic, examines the motivations for counting such visits and the means required to do so, and explores the methods used from the early nineteenth century to now. A concluding section discusses the theme within the context of modern public policy on museums.

In relating historic context to current practice, it shows that, irrespective of the general use of visit numbers as a proxy for public interest and institutional importance, the practice of collecting museum visit numbers continues to be inconsistent and their publication erratic. It suggests that the lack of accepted good practice makes this an area for improvement.     

Classics foretold? Contemporaneous and retrospective consecration in the UK film industry

Consecration of cultural products occurs both contemporaneously and retrospectively. This paper examines the influence of contemporaneous consecration on retrospective consecration in the UK film industry. We first examine the impact of professional and popular consecration on retrospective consecration using the list of “best films” compiled by the British Film Institute to gauge retrospective consecration. We then examine the impact of international film festivals on retrospective consecration. We show that experts and peers will have a differential effect on the process of retrospective consecration.     

Safety Ensured for Cultural Heritages in the Three Gorges

“When the steep gorges become a vast quiet lake, the whole world will be amazed” This is a line from Chairman Mao‘s famous poem expressing his lifelong dream to build a gigantic dam over the Yangtze River.     

Professional mobilities in the creative industries: The role of “place” for young people aspiring for a creative career

Within creative industries policy, two themes have been situated as central to the needs of the creative economy: the economic importance of place and the role of education in delivering a better-equipped workforce. However, these themes have rarely overlapped in either policy thinking or academic research, and so this article focuses on the relationship between place, education and professional aspirations for young people. Using the findings from qualitative interviews with media studies students within higher education (HE), this article analyses how the perceived attributes of some locations may provide industry credibility and the promise of enhanced professional mobility. It examines the tangible and symbolic value of place within young people's career development in the creative industries. The findings highlight how the links between place and education can influence the professional process, and how place shapes young people's perceptions of and opportunities for work in the creative industries. Finally, this research emphasises how current theories on creative industries policy and HE provision need to be extended to take greater account of the ways in which the attributes of localities can be used as a catalyst for individual professionalism amongst young people, and the ways in which certain places (mainly rural) may be disadvantaged in the current policy trajectory.     

Brilliant for Its Purity——A review on the Beijing Premiere of Henri Oguike Dance Company from UK

For four consecutive years, contemporary dance performances from UK jointly presented bv the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy in Beijing and Milky Way Arts ＆ Communications Co., Ltd., have been staged in Beijing during Chinese New Year celebrations. In the Spring Festival this year, Henri Oguike Dance Company presented its Beijing premiere in Tianqiao Theatre, bringing flesh charm of British modern dance to Chinese people.     

The ‘Welsh’ Pimpernel: Richard Llewellyn and the Search for Authenticity in Second World War Britain

ABSTRACT

Achieving worldwide success in 1939 with his bestselling novel, How Green Was My Valley, Richard Llewellyn became indelibly linked with a particular vision of Wales and Welshness. Yet, when it posthumously emerged that Llewellyn was not Welsh but an Englishman of Welsh parentage he faced accusations of fakery. Mapping Llewellyn’s military service in the Welsh Guards and work with the BBC, this article traces his complex negotiation of selfhood during the Second World War. By highlighting how Llewellyn was embraced as a cultural representative of transnational Welshness, it underlines the potential of dual identifications in underpinning constructions of wartime Britishness.     

Safeguard Civilization for the Future--China＇s achievements in the conservation of cultural heritage over the past three years

On the International Day for Monuments and Sites in April 2006, representatives from all industrial cities around China assembled in Wuxi, one of the birthplaces of modern China＇s industries, to discuss status quos and solutions for industrial heritage conservation. The Wuxi Recommendations, the consensus document reached at this historical event, calls for,     

‘Engineering for Boys’: Meccano and the Shaping of a Technical Vision of Boyhood in Twentieth-Century Britain

The construction toy Meccano was created in 1901 by Liverpudlian clerk Frank Hornby and reached its height of popularity during inter-war Britain. By focusing on the development of Meccano throughout the company’s publicity and within oral history testimony, this paper considers how the toy promoted engineering to shape a technical vision of boyhood. Hornby shaped this vision by building upon masculine ideals of self-improvement that were central to Samuel Smiles’ book Self-Help and Robert Baden-Powell’s Boy Scouts movement. This vision built upon a past of achievements in engineering, and with it Victorian values such as clean-mindedness and independence, to enable boys to prepare for a technological modern world. Hornby’s own career and influences also provided the model for boys to make a success of their lives through the later establishment of the Meccano Magazine (1916) and guilds (1919) to accompany the toy. Secondly, it shows how this vision has continued to endure through the use of Meccano as a scientific device and in memories of the toy.     

Young Campers in Love: Who Are the Grown-ups in Moonrise Kingdom?

Popular culture, especially movie culture, is the arena where the struggles of the diverse cultures belonging to age groups are carried out. Moonrise Kingdom is an unusual movie, different from the usual summer or coming of age movies. In such movies, different theories of youth are displayed, providing tools for constructing the political bases of marginalization of adolescents. These theories limit the character traits that can be awarded to all subcultural groups, in this case to youth.     

Procedural democracy,participatory democracy and regional networking: the multi‐terrain struggle for democracy in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Southeast Asia experienced rapid economic growth during the 1980s and early 1990s largely because of the emergence of the developmental state, which successfully adapted itself to the thrust of neo‐liberal globalization by adopting economic liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies. However, the role of the developmental state was attacked and rolled back in the wake of the 1997–1998 regional financial crisis. Meanwhile, as a result of growth prior to the financial meltdown, a considerable political ferment occurred due to the consolidation of the middle‐classes. Consequently, in spite of state curbs and controls, democratic politics had (re)emerged prior to, as well as following, the 1997–1998 crisis. This article traces the rise and evolution of the NGOs and consolidation of civil society in four Southeast Asian countries, namely, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Central to the discussion is the extent to which the civil society organizations promoted a deepening of democracy and more equitable development. The analysis distinguishes between procedural democracy, perhaps best characterized by electoralism, and participatory democracy, which stresses that the everyday rights, interests, perspectives and involvement of civil society at large must be taken into consideration by the powers‐that‐be, in between elections. Although much progress has occurred in the realm of procedural democracy, that democratization is not meaningful if it is not accompanied by participatory democracy. A final section investigates how NGOs in Southeast Asia and beyond have been networking with one another transnationally, in order to further that democratization. Put simply, the struggle for democratization especially in this era of globalism, also characterized by US unilateralism and Bush’s war against terrorism, must be multi‐terrain and regional in scope.     

‘They shall grow not old’: An analysis of trends in memorialisation based on information held by the UK national inventory of war memorials

This chapter of Cultural Trends discusses ways in which war memorials demonstrate changing cultural or societal trends in the UK through their various forms and functions, and through the evolution of memorialisation itself.

It introduces the UK National Inventory of War Memorials, an archive which was established in 1989 and which records details of memorials throughout the UK. The chapter is based on data and detailed examples taken from the 47,000 records currently input on the archive's database and it explores those records to examine memorials commemorating the Boer Wars, First and Second World Wars and the Korean War, in particular.

The first section considers general issues regarding war memorials in the UK ‐ the ways in which memorial styles have changed, and how these reflect changing attitudes towards those who served in the armed forces in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The second section is about the pragmatics of memorialisation, and focuses on the significance of where memorials are positioned, whether inside or out and within public or private spaces; the increase in secularisation; the geographical spread of memorials; and issues related to urban and rural memorialisation.

The third section considers the evolution of memorials from being a focus for grief for those whose friends and relations’ bodies were not returned, to manifesting veterans groups’ assertions of their identity many years after a conflict. The physical movement of memorials is also covered, ranging from memorials which have been lost or neglected, through to memorials being moved in order to preserve them so that remembrance services can continue. Peaks and troughs of memorialisation through the 20th century are also considered.

To conclude, the fourth section pulls together various threads drawn throughout the chapter, analysing memorials chronologically, geographically, stylistically and in terms of their relative ‘popularity’.     

＂Meet in Beijing＂ Arts Festival：Grand Gala for the People

The＂Meet in Beijing＂Arts Festival is an annual large-scale international festival aimed at showcasing the best of arts from across the globe and promoting friendship among people worldwide. From April 28 to May 27,the one-month-long sixth session of the festival took place in the capital cith of China,embracing some 50 outstanding arts troupes and exhibitions from more than 20 countries and regions,such as Mexico,Canada,Bahamas,Russia,Belgium,the United States,New Zealand,Sweden,Peru,South Africa ,Israel as well as East Asia.Together with Chinese colleagues,foreign artists and performers manifested the theme of friendship,harmony and communication with their superb performances or artworks.