The AU Vocal Ensemble sang live at the matchbox event at The Dragon Camp in Wanjiang.
Nanfang Daily reporter Gong Mingyang photographed
A matchbox performance site in Wanjiang Street, Dongguan. Photo by Huang Zhengzheng
"Matchbox" Dongguan City Art TIME project opened. Nanfang Daily reporter Gong Mingyang photographed
The AU Vocal Ensemble sang live at the matchbox event at The Dragon Camp in Wanjiang.
Nanfang Daily reporter Gong Mingyang photographed
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A matchbox performance site in Wanjiang Street, Dongguan. Photo by Huang Zhengzheng
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"Matchbox" Dongguan City Art TIME project opened. Nanfang Daily reporter Gong Mingyang photographed
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Matches and note elements combined with the combination of signs glittering, printed with numbers on the stage musicians indulgently singing, on the evening of May 8, "matchbox" • mother's kiss Dongguan City Art TIME was warmly staged in the Dongcheng Wanda No. 2 Atrium, applause, flashing lights accompanied by melodies to convey blessings to the mother.
This is the scene of Dongguan's "Matchbox" urban art TIME performance. On the evening of April 30 this year, accompanied by the singing of the theme song "Shimmer", the "Matchbox" Dongguan City Art TIME Project (hereinafter referred to as the "Matchbox") was opened in the Huangqi South Xiangyu Corridor in Dongcheng, and the matchbox points in the town streets of the city were launched synchronously. Since then, countless matchboxes will carry different people's musical dreams in small squares, green lawns and other urban spaces, illuminating the city with the glimmer of music.
Guided by the Propaganda Department of the Dongguan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, sponsored by the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, and undertaken by the Dongguan Municipal Cultural Center, the matchbox project is scheduled to last from April to December. Since its launch, a total of 21 activities have been held in 16 town street parks in Dongguan. As an important step for Dongguan to create a "trend culture", how to meet the cultural needs of the masses, how to attract young people to participate, the story of Dongguan matchbox is continuing.
Written by: Southern Daily reporter Li Lingyu Zhang Qianqian Gong Mingyang
Coordinator: Li Lingyu
Upgrade the city relay to create a cultural space at the doorstep
Within the matchbox project's work group, the May performance schedule is being filled out by solitaire in the hands of the town street leaders, who are brainstorming for the upcoming "520". How to set the stage, which tracks to choose, how to innovate the performance form... A series of questions await the event director's decision.
"There is a feeling of live concert, the ears are 'pregnant' when you hear it, and many classic songs are sung together, and the atmosphere is very good." The audience who went to the scene to watch the matchbox and the light of youth May Fourth Youth Day special event told reporters.
Positive feedback from the masses is inseparable from Dongguan's innovation. It is understood that the "matchbox" Dongguan City Art TIME predecessor is Dongguan City Art TIME, the project since its launch in 2017, supporting 56 amateur teams / times, carried out nearly 400 performances, to promote the city's amateur literary and artistic teams to go deep into urban space, grass-roots villages, cultural attractions and other performances, not only for the amateur literary and artistic team to create opportunities for display and promotion, but also to promote amateur literary and artistic teams to devote themselves to rural cultural construction. According to statistics, by the end of 2020, the project has benefited an average of more than 100,000 people every year in the four years since its implementation.
The newly unveiled "matchbox" has added multiple dimensions of upgrading and reconstruction on the basis of inheriting the public welfare of the past. In the past, the activities mainly responsible for the municipal departments were changed to the linkage between the municipal and municipal levels, and the coverage was also extended to the whole city and the whole year. Launched just 10 days ago, the project has already launched 21 events in 16 town streets. At the same time, the exquisite and compact form also provides a new direction for solving the problems of large-scale activities that cannot be held as scheduled under the epidemic, limited scale, and difficult to meet the cultural needs of the masses.
"By integrating the high-quality public cultural resources of all parties in the city, the unified matchbox IP will be promoted to the town street, the layout of the cultural and artistic space will continue to be optimized, the colorful music and art activities will be carried out, and the 'matchbox' urban art TIME brand will be fully rolled out." The relevant person in charge of the Dongguan Cultural Center said.
Specifically, the Municipal Cultural Center will integrate the city's resources and display them in the form of pop music specials, Acapella special sessions, light rock specials, jazz specials, folk songs specials, music rap specials, ethnic pop special sessions, etc., and at the same time guide the towns and streets to be held in outdoor venues such as public gathering places, commercial, leisure areas, and scenic spots, so as to make the supply of public cultural services more in-depth. From the stage form, most of the matchbox activities abandon the traditional stage form, forming a borderless stage and a borderless audience seat, which is closer to the masses in form and more in line with the aesthetics of young people.
On the grass at the launching ceremony site, egg roll tables and camping chairs were irregularly arranged, and light-colored tents were pulled up on the periphery, and the atmosphere was full. Pure public welfare, zero distance, small cost... Small concerts close to the public and fashionable stage design were staged in many places in Dongguan.
"I love this kind of outdoor concert, which is very popular with young people now, and I will bring my friends to the next event!" Citizen Miss Ho said.
Metamorphosis from a synonym for high-quality manufacturing to a new symbol of urban culture
"Where is the next matchbox concert?" After the matchbox Mother's Day special session, many netizens left messages to inquire. Matchboxes began to become a symbol of citizens' pursuit of cultural life.
"Everyone can be a match, although there is only a glimmer, but the gathering can illuminate a piece of heaven and earth, the name of the matchbox is to hope that every Dongguan person attaches importance to their own value to the city, no matter how big or small the contribution, work together to build a beautiful home in Dongguan." At the launching ceremony, a person in charge of the organizer sighed.
Speaking of the idea of the matchbox, it actually stems from an indissoluble relationship between Dongguan and matches.
Dongguan match industry originated in the 1930s. The match factory is a microcosm of Dongguan's courage to take the road of independent research and development and attach importance to quality in the tide of reform and opening up.
In 1941, Huang Song, a native of Dongguan, founded the "Xinglong Match Factory" in Daojiao, which became the earliest match factory in Dongguan. In 1945, Shilongren Zhengrun moved the Wuyang Brand Mechanism Match Factory in Guangzhou to Shilong, becoming the first all-round match factory in Dongguan with power equipment and production capacity of firewood branches and box pieces. Subsequently, Changping Match Industry Joint Venture and Guancheng Match Factory were successively merged into the Shilong Match Factory and named "Shilong Match Factory". It was famous in the 1960s for the quality and quantity of matches it produced.
For a time, "Shilong Match Factory" became synonymous with high-quality matches and were exported to all parts of the country. Since the mid-1990s, lighters and liquefied gas have gradually entered daily life, and the once thriving match factories have gradually disappeared. Matches have slowly become synonymous with time and history. But for many Dongguan people, a small box of matches still contains the beautiful memories of Dongguan people working hard day and night, striving for social and economic development and contributing.
Behind a small matchbox represents the collective memory of many Dongguan people. According to the organizers of the event, the naming of the "matchbox" Dongguan City Art TIME can not only evoke the memories of Dongguan people about the progress of industrial development, but also light up the expectations and yearning of Dongguan people for a better life. The image of the "matchbox" means that the fire, although small, can light people's hope fire, illuminate the road, and warm people's hearts.
"The 'matchbox' that represents hope and the pragmatic spirit of Houde has evolved and changed in the long river of history, and now, hope has shaped it as a cultural label, a fashion phenomenon, a beautiful note, and has also become the starting point of 'Trend Dongguan'." The head of the organizer added.
From the synonym of quality manufacturing to the new IP of urban culture, matchbox activities carry the pride of Dongguan people, extend all the way to the cultural field, and attract groups of young people to cultivate Dongguan.
Cultivate memories to cultivate Dongguan trend culture communicators with music shimmer
At the performance site of the blue-orange matchbox logo, Dongguan local male vocal quartet "Son of the Sun" sang the matchbox theme song "Shimmer", the "Encore" band attracted the audience to dance and sway with a dynamic rhythm, and the AU Vocal Orchestra showed the unique charm of the a cappella chorus on the spot... On matchbox stages scattered around the world, local musicians stepped forward.
It is understood that the actors of all matchbox projects are from Dongguan, and the organizers have prepared nearly 20 teams (or singers) to form a musical talent pool for the "matchbox" project, and each event invites 6-8 people to perform. In addition, each town street independently organizes local performance teams to encourage the discovery and promotion of local musical talents.
AU Vocal Ensemble is an original Dongguan vocal ensemble whose names also appear in the list of musical talents. The leader of the group, He Chuangye, told reporters that every time he participated in the competition and live activities, it was an opportunity for the orchestra to grow and exercise, and due to the impact of the epidemic, offline performances were reduced, so he cherished every stage. Matchbox events are more accessible, more popular and more interactive than previous events.
The formation of the musical talent pool did not happen overnight. Over the years, through activities such as Dongguan Students' Concerts, Dongguan Youth Dream Realization Action Plan, and Drinking One River, Dongguan Cultural Center has discovered, cultivated and supported nearly 100 local musicians. They provide talent support for the smooth operation of the Matchbox project. In the process of performance, they not only brought beautiful musical feelings to the public, but also inspired a group of music lovers to continue to pursue their dreams with the stories of musicians.
"We were selected for the 2022 Dongguan Youth Dream Realization Program, and the cultural center mainly provides high-quality venues and cultural volunteer support, while providing tens of thousands of yuan of funds to support us to build a better program framework." He Chuangye said. Singer Li Jing from Tangxia Town is an outstanding singer selected from the "Drink One River Water" project, and won the title of the annual champion of the "Same Drink One River Water" 2019 Guangdong Laborer Singing Competition.
"Matchbox not only provides a stage for Dongguan musicians, it is also a disseminator and leader of the trend. A matchbox will serve as a spark of stars, igniting the dreams of more Dongguan musicians, enriching the cultural life of more people, and gradually letting the trend culture burn in Dongguan. Huang Xiaoli, director of the Dongguan Cultural Center, said.
Dongguan, with its large number of young people, the concentration of new generation industrial workers, and the average age of its permanent population of only 34 years old, is undoubtedly a young city.
In order to meet the young people's pursuit of trendy things and fashion life, the 15th Party Congress of Dongguan City proposed to strive to build a city of youth, vitality, dream and growth, and strive to build a "trend culture capital" with the combination of tide play industry, popular culture and fashion activities. The matchbox project will create a small but beautiful public cultural space, shape the city's literary and artistic temperament, and highlight the fashion sense of trend culture as the essence of its activities.
As a major brand activity created by Dongguan's trend culture, groups of young people are gathering under the matchbox, and wherever the matchbox goes, it is also enriching the needs of public culture. Camping festivals, musical theater festivals and other activities to attract young people will appear one after another this year, and the trend of Dongguan may become the keyword of Dongguan in 2022.