“HIDDEN tapestries, Myths of Creation,” the latest symphonic poem by Chinese composer Ye Xiaogang, premiered last night at Shanghai Symphony Hall, telling the story of mythical Chinese heroes creating the world, as well as announcing the young local art festival’s coming of age.

Born in 1999, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF) has grown from a small largely unknown fledgling initiative to a celebrated international event, attracting audiences and professionals from the world over, nurturing new Chinese talent, and undertaking collaborations with artists and art organizations internationally.

This year’s festival, from October 19 to November 22, will stage around 300 art-related activities, including 45 stage programs home and abroad, six new commissioned works, 30 rising artists’ works, and more than 100 public welfare or educational programs covering all 16 of Shanghai’s districts.

Apart from bringing world-top artists such as the Lucerne Festival Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly from Europe, Teatro Carlo Felice from Italy, New York City Ballet from the US, and Theater des Bouffes du Nord from France, the festival this year will also arrange a special event tomorrow at the East Bund to celebrate its achievements over the past 20 years.

The “Coming Home” event will bring back some old friends who have performed at the festival, including choreographers Shen Wei and Yang Liping and conductor Tang Muhai.

Aiming to create “a festival of arts, and a gala for all” since its inception, the festival has been working on collecting and staging a significant number of programs annually in the city, so as to benefit ordinary residents by satisfying their needs for good arts, and nurture talented artist by supporting their creation, said Wang Jun, president of the CSIAF Center.

“The festival is never a creator for arts, but we hope that it may serve as a good bed with soil, air and water to help the seeds of arts and urban culture grow and prosper,” Wang said. “Fortunately, we seem to be progressing well.”

According to the center, more than 40,000 artists and 700 arts groups from over 70 countries have featured at the festival through more than 1,000 community performances over the past 20 years, benefiting more than 4.65 million people throughout the city.

Nearly 80 young artists have been commissioned for 65 original works by the festival’s signature “Rising Artists’ Works” program initiated in 2012. And a public-welfare “Art Space” series initiated in 2014 and educational “Art Plus” program begun in 2015 have benefited 1.6 million and 350,000 residents respectively.

The CSIAF Performing Arts Fair has so far attracted the participation of over 1,000 arts festivals, agencies and performing groups from 160 cities and regions in over 100 countries. Each year, over 10,000 programs are showcased and traded on the platform, with hundreds reaching initial cooperative intentions.

“The festival was born and has grown in response to the proper time and conditions,” said Wang.

She said the reform and opening-up policy since the late 1970s had not only triggered residents’ growing need for diversified art products, but also paved the way for an increasing number of professional theaters, art groups and performance trading companies popping up in the city, all essential for a growing art festival such as the CSIAF.

“Believe it or not, there were only three companies in 1999 in Shanghai qualified for introducing oversea programs, while there are more than 400 organizations at home and abroad coming to the CSIAF fair each year, purchasing and selling programs,” said Wang.

Shanghai Grand Theater, completed in 1998, was the only major venue for big-scale CSIAF programs such as symphony concerts, operas and dance theaters in the first few years, while there are more than 100 theaters of different sizes throughout Shanghai ready for programs of different types today.

Zhang Rongwei, a 62-year-old architectural engineer, has been a friend of the festival since its birth. As a fan of the performing arts, Zhang adores the festival as it gathers a great many programs within a month, from which he can always find something to enjoy.

“I still remember cycling to Shanghai Art Theater for tickets on my way home from work in the first few years. There were a lot of low-price tickets ranging from 30-50 yuan, but not many buyers, since hardly any people knew about the festival,” said Zhang.

He treated some friends to the theater as his companions at first. Many of them became addicted just like him and returned the favor in recent years. But the high price of some overseas programs still causes them to hesitate as there are a limited number of cut-price tickets available.

“It surprised me days ago that there are now people queuing 24 hours in advance to get cut-price tickets. I should say that I got many more competitors at the box office these years.” said Zhang.

Performing at the opening of the festival 20 years ago seems just like yesterday for 41-year-old Chinese choreographer Huang Doudou, who was named a member of the Art Council of the CSIAF “Rising Artists’ Works” this year to help young artists perfect their works. Working with the talented young artists reminds him of his early memories of the festival.

Together with dancers from the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble, Huang staged song and dance drama “Golden Dance with Silver Dresses” as the opening performance of the first festival in 1999.

“It was my first work as artistic director, and its being well-received put much confidence in me as a young artist,” said Huang. Since then, Huang has become a frequent participant in the festival, bringing a series of dance works such as “Su Wu” and “Mulan.” Through the platform, Huang got the chance to work as an exchange artist in Adelaide when in his 20s.

“There had been government–supported exchange programs before that took Chinese artists abroad and showcased their works, but the CSIAF was the first platform in Shanghai that makes such exhibition and exchange possible within the city,” said Huang, “It is important for artists’ growth as it not only broadens their vision but also brings them into the spotlight.”

With a growing number of performances delivered by an array of leading artists at affordable prices, the arts festival puts Shanghai on par with festival cities such as Hong Kong, Edinburgh, Avignon or Spoletto, according to local critic Rudolph Tang.

He has been impressed by some of the festival’s pioneering moves, such as introducing a 12-hour open-air performing arts marathon in 2014. But he feels it will take time for the festival to develop certain themes that justify social attention and develop its programs.

“After exposing audiences with vast programs throughout the years to arouse their interests generally, it may be the time to guide them more attentively in appreciation with themes,” said Tang.

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