STORY: Chinese craftsmen enchant U.S. visitors with immersive cultural experience in Philadelphia
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 11, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 14, 2024
LENGTH: 00:04:40
LOCATION: PHILADELPHIA, U.S.
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA)
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): HIROMI KINOSHITA, Curator of Chinese Art at Philadelphia Museum of Art
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): HIROMI KINOSHITA, Curator of Chinese Art at Philadelphia Museum of Art
4. various of activities
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): COCO IDANI, Visitor
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): PAUL, Visitor
7. various of activities
8. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): RUAN JING, Director of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center

STORYLINE:

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) hosted a day-long immersive Chinese New Year Festival full of hands-on activities exploring Chinese culture on Sunday.
   
Artisans from east China's Zhejiang Province took over the Great Stair Hall of the museum with a variety of demonstrations, including tea-whisking, sugar painting, rice sculptures, poetry couplets, and puppetry.

Guests also got an opportunity to create their own woodblock prints, learn about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, and receive a lucky red envelope.

It was estimated that at least 1,000 parents and their kids had joined the five-hour celebration on Sunday, according to Hiromi Kinoshita, curator of Chinese Art at the PMA.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): HIROMI KINOSHITA, Curator of Chinese Art at Philadelphia Museum of Art
"I think having the idea of craftsmen to come all the way from China and perform things that you don't usually get to see is very attractive."

Kinoshita, who's been working with the PMA for 12 years, believed the event could help facilitate better understanding between the American and Chinese peoples, especially at a time when information that people get usually comes from the Internet or the news, which could lead to a restricted view.
   
SOUNDBITE 2 (English): HIROMI KINOSHITA, Curator of Chinese Art at Philadelphia Museum of Art"I think people are very important to transmit ideas and arts are very important as well, and I can't think of any better way than having craftsmen or artisans who can show their arts, which I think is universal, people can completely understand and appreciate the arts, to come here and experience it in person. I think it's really important to have that personal connection."
   
SOUNDBITE 3 (English): COCO IDANI, Visitor
"They should have it more often. It's beautiful. We need to know other cultures. It's nice. I love it. I would come back every year. You have it, I will be here. Chinese culture is so old and extremely rich. We ought to learn from them."
   
SOUNDBITE 4 (English): PAUL, Visitor
"I always think that through the arts and culture, we can make bridges. So I'm very happy to participate. It is wonderful. We like to share Chinese culture with Zina when we can. It's great that the artisans from China come here to show puppetry and their handicrafts, so it's very nice."

PMA's event was the last leg of the Chinese artisans' 10-day visit to the United States to join the Chinese New Year celebrations in New York and neighboring areas. They had earlier performed at the Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center, and China Institute.

SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): RUAN JING, Director of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center"Our delegation has been in the U.S. for 10 days and we held seven events. Every activity was warmly welcomed by the people here. They formed long lines to participate. This is utterly surprising for us. We felt that people here are very interested in Chinese traditional culture. This makes us more confident to promote and inherit Chinese traditional culture."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Philadelphia, U.S.
(XHTV)