32-year-old Dekyi Chodron is a producer of a youth arts festival in China's Xizang. She hopes to bring the richness of Xizang's traditional culture into everyday lives.
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00:00For Deki children, August is usually the busiest time of the year.
00:2632-year-old Deki is the producer of the Chakang Youth Arts Festival in China's Tibet.
00:32Deki hopes that this year's arts season will be the starting point for a new five-year plan.
00:56Related cultural activities will be held in public spaces such as Lhasa's tea houses and coffee houses.
01:02We also hope that in this way, we can really make art enter the streets of Lhasa.
01:13Deki, who was born in Agari, China's Tibet, sought to study away from home at the age of 13.
01:20She studied in Wuhan, Beijing, and later in the UK.
01:25In 2018, after earning her master's degree in the UK, she decided to return to her hometown and start her own business.
01:55There are relatively few cultural and artistic activities in China.
02:01If there is such a comprehensive art festival, it can be given to young people in Lhasa and Tibet,
02:10especially tourists who want to break the stereotype of being a tourist.
02:14Sweet tea houses are an essential part of daily life in Tibet.
02:18Deki hopes to bring the richness of Tibet's traditional culture into everyday life.
02:23And these tea houses have become instrumental in her endeavor.
02:28In the 70s and 80s, there were a group of contemporary artists in Lhasa.
02:33They moved their works to the tea house for exhibitions.
02:37They didn't need to go to museums to hold large-scale exhibitions.
02:41You can see these at the tea houses in front of your house.
02:44We want to pay tribute to this spirit and hope that this spirit can continue.
02:51In 2023, Deki brought the art festival to the ancient courtyards of Lhasa's old town.
02:57The 1.3-square-kilometer old town is dotted with over a hundred historical buildings.
03:03She hopes to reinvigorate these spaces with art and enrich the city's cultural vibe.
03:09Ancient buildings have their own characteristics.
03:14These characteristics can't be brought to a well-built teahouse.
03:17Every time we choose a place, we feel that this place has a very traditional feel.
03:21It's not a clean and modern place.
03:25It's a place where you can watch a performance or observe a traditional culture.
03:31In 2023, the art festival hosted 20 events, reaching an audience of hundreds of thousands.
03:38Traditional culture is increasingly capturing the interests of young people.
03:44If these traditional cultures can be done in a more modern and younger way,
03:51young people will like it.
03:54We need to be a bridge in the middle.
03:58First, we need to make the audience better understand what the artist wants to express.
04:03Secondly, we need artists to understand what the current cultural market is like.
04:11I think this is the most meaningful part of our work.
04:22I've always paid attention to the rich heritage left by our ancestors.
04:27I feel that we should look at the present.
04:30When I was a child, I lived in a small courtyard like this.
04:36I have a lot of childhood memories here.
04:40I think it's good to show our traditional culture and the way we young people like it.
04:47I think it's good to pass it on.
04:51With the efforts of young people like Deki, traditional culture is kept alive
04:55and passed on in new and innovative ways.
04:58Over the years, China has invested heavily in preserving cultural heritage in Sudan.
05:05Official data show 2.17 billion yuan was spent on this sector from 2016 to 2020.
05:13Regarding the future, Deki is very confident.
05:17There are still many good initiatives.
05:19For example, the independent and specialized Flying Fish Museum.
05:23All the counties are doing this.
05:25From flying fish excavation to conservation.
05:27Every year, we report on this.
05:28We have been inheriting this.
05:30But if there is no government to invest this money,
05:33let us see, let us research,
05:35I don't think there will be such a touching thing.
05:37We are still young.
05:39We still need to dig more.
05:41We still need to learn more.
05:43We are confident in our own culture.