Nordic Chinese Festival winds up in Sweden

This year's culture packed Nordic Chinese Festival is nearing its end in Sweden. The week-long celebration taking place from September 8 to 13, has brought the Nordic audience pearls of ancient Chinese culture, as well as more modern takes on such arts as calligraphy and dance.

The event kicked off on Saturday, September 8 when a song and dance group from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region performed the first shows on its three-nation tour at the newly renovated Eskilstuna Theater in central Sweden. The world-renowned performance group wowed the audience with samples of traditional and ethnic songs and dances. Most notably, they received raves for their performance of the "meshrep," a traditional Uighur dance.

Since its creation in 1949, the Xinjiang Song and Dance Company has won numerous awards for its vibrant and colorful music and dance performances, which blend the traditional styles of the country's diverse ethnic groups. Their members represent 13 different ethnic minorities, bringing a unique authenticity to each performance. Quite rightly, they have earned a reputation as ambassadors of Xinjiang ethnic culture, for promoting folk arts from the region around the world.

After their very successful Eskilstuna performances, the group headed to the Swedish capital of Stockholm, then to Norway and Germany to spread the music and dance of this western Chinese region to Europe. All in all, the group will stage 14 shows during this tour.

Asian Day, and more, in Stockholm

Radio86 journalist Antonia Ramsay at the Asian Day in Stockholm. (Image: Radio86)Chinese culture was also present in Sweden on a more broader scale over the weekend. On Sunday, September 9, the yearly Asian Festival was organized at the East Asian museum in Stockholm. There visitors got a chance to tour the museum's newest exhibitions, The Middle Kingdom and China's Book History, and visit the library dedicated to Far East Asia. Tyghusplan served as the backdrop for the festival which featured such pearls as Chinese Kunqu Opera (predecessor of Beijing Opera) and calligraphy performances.

The activity filled day included special demonstrations and workshops which invited festival guests to try their hand at making origami figures and opera masks. The Radio86 listeners' gathering was also held at the site.

The Beijing Modern Dance Co's show is called China Vision. (Image: BMDC)More high-class culture followed on Sunday, when a Kunqu Opera performance was staged at Scalateatern. This unique art form, which is hailed as the father of Chinese opera, was listed as an Intangible Human Heritage Masterpiece by UNESCO in 2001. The Northern Kunqu Opera Troupe performed one of the great masterpieces of Chinese classical opera, The Romance of the Western Bower.

For those who feel connected to more contemporary art forms, Sweden's Asian cultural festivities offered a spectacular modern dance performance by the Beijing Modern Dance Company. On September 8 and 9, the award-winning dance troupe captivated audiences in Stockholm with a production entitled China Vision, featuring two dance acts -- Oath - Midnight Rain and Unfettered Journey.

Zeng Laide has created a unique calligraphy show. (Image: Zeng Laide)Music was not lacking at this year's events, including the supersized calligraphy performance of famed artist Zeng Laide at the Eskilstuna Art Museum and the East Asian Museum on September 8 and 9. Zeng's performance is a combination of Chinese calligraphy and traditional guqin music. The show is best described as a dialog between music and calligraphy that blurs the boundaries between different art forms.

The final shows of the cultural week will feature the performances of the Xinjiang Song and Dance Group in Lidingö on September 12 and 13. From there the group will continue on to Oslo on the 16th and to Berlin on the 24th of September, where they will perform at various venues.