On May 27, the Opening Ceremony of “Chu-Han Charm” China Hubei Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition was held at Riccarton Park Event Centre. Mr. Liang Weinian, CPC Hubei Provincial Committee Member and Publicity Minister, Chinese Consul General Jin Zhijian, Waimakariri Mayor David Ayers, Christchurch City Councillor Jimmy Chen and David East together with nearly 100 guests attended the ceremony.
In his address, Consul General Jin expressed his heartfelt thanks to those who had contributed to the exhibition. He stressed that intangiblecultural heritage was an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity. Hubei's exhibition would promote further cultural exchanges, deepen the cooperation in more areas and enhance mutual understanding between two countries, also between Hubei and Christchurch. Mr. Jin said Christchurch people would fall in love the beautiful and miraculous Hubei intangible cultural heritage through the 12 well-selected spectacular items in the exhibition.
Mr. Liang Weinian, Mr. Jimmy Chen also gave speech at the event, both appreciated the exhibition and were confident about the future cooperation in cultural exchanges between Hubei and Christchurch.
At the opening ceremony，a cultural exchange agreement was signed by Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and New Zealand Chinese Culture Communication Foundation and an international cooperation centre between Hubei and Christchurch was unveiled.
After the opening ceremony, Consul General Jin and guests visited the exhibition and enjoyed the inheritors'skill. Twelve representative items were displayed,including Han embroidery, Chinese paper cutting, Xilankapu brocade, phoenix kites etc, especially it's the first time for the craft of makingphoenix kites to show abroad.All guests showed keen interest and were amazed by inheritors' remarkable skill.
During the exhibition, shadow play was also be exhibited at Christchurch’s primary school, where teachers and students got a closer look and learned about Hubei’s intangible cultural heritage.