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Can cultural venues cut it in modern-day Minhang?
November 27, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
WITH economic development, people are more and more concerned with their cultural life nowadays. As we know, making citizens' lives happy is one of the ultimate goals in achieving a harmonious society, true happiness comes from the heart and cannot be gained only through financial gain. The culture industry also plays a very important role in this process.
As one of the biggest districts of Shanghai, Minhang has a population of more than 2 million people. And unlike most districts, the immigrant population in Minhang outnumbers the local one. From an economic aspect, a huge population means a huge market. From a social aspect, it means a complicated population structure. So, the question is, how can these two problems be addressed at the same time? Minhang's answer is the culture industry.
To see how the culture industry fares in Minhang, we visited two representative cultural venues in the district - Shanghai City Theater and Qibao Shadow Play Pavilion. And what we have seen differs a lot.Shanghai City TheaterShanghai City Theater formally opened at the end of last year, and was a big move for Minhang District. It is funded by the Minhang government and entrusted to Shanghai Eastern Image Art Gallery Culture Company for daily management. According to the local government's plan, the theater aims to improve the quality of arts for Minhang and Shanghai citizens and make itself a cultural landmark for the south-west area of Shanghai. It has now been open for one year, and we wondered whether it has worked as planned.
"I can say that in the first year, we've already achieved our goals, even beyond our original plan," says Fang Yongnian, the vice general manager of the Eastern Culture Company. "We planned to hold 80 commercial performances in 2010, now we have had 91; we planned to make ourself known to the city, now there are many art troupes from other cities and provinces wanting to put their performances on our stage."
"One of the symbols of how popular our performances are is that we found there are ticket touts appearing at our doors when we have shows," Fang joked.
According to Fang, in the first year of Shanghai City Theater, it has held 141 performances of different kinds. Besides the 91 commercial performances, there have also been 27 of active styles and 23 performed by citizens. And of all the commercial performances, the average attendance rate reaches more than 85 percent. By the end of October, there had been more than 80,000 visits to enjoy performances at the theater. In a word, it's a good business report for the first year of a new theater.
The Minhang government didn't only invest a huge amount of money to build up the theater to make a profit. The cultural effects of the theater are what they are really concerned about.
"According to the plan of Minhang Government, the Shanghai City Theater shall become a platform for international cultural communication, as well as a palace hall for our citizens to enjoy the refined art," says Fang. "It shall be a top-ranking theater of international standard, both in hardware and inner qualities."
According to the brand positioning of the theater, the performances must be excellent, otherwise they'll not be introduced. Whether it's "Fame" from Broadway last December, or the forthcoming "Shocking Dinner" by the famous Shanghainese star Chen Peisi, all performances shown on the stage of City Theater are of the highest quality.
"We want to leave our audience such an impression that when they enter our theater, what they're going to see must be a good performance," says Fang. "They expect the best, and we offer the best." With a successful beginning, Fang has greater expectations for the future.
"In the first year our goals were to gain a good reputation in the city and a clear brand positioning. Now we have both," says Fang. "In the second year, we're not only seeking an increase in performances. We already know the great potential of Minhang citizens' consumption power in culture, now we want to help improve their understanding and interests in refined art, and with it, we want to make our brand special from other theaters."
As one of the biggest districts of Shanghai, Minhang has a population of more than 2 million people. And unlike most districts, the immigrant population in Minhang outnumbers the local one. From an economic aspect, a huge population means a huge market. From a social aspect, it means a complicated population structure. So, the question is, how can these two problems be addressed at the same time? Minhang's answer is the culture industry.
To see how the culture industry fares in Minhang, we visited two representative cultural venues in the district - Shanghai City Theater and Qibao Shadow Play Pavilion. And what we have seen differs a lot.Shanghai City TheaterShanghai City Theater formally opened at the end of last year, and was a big move for Minhang District. It is funded by the Minhang government and entrusted to Shanghai Eastern Image Art Gallery Culture Company for daily management. According to the local government's plan, the theater aims to improve the quality of arts for Minhang and Shanghai citizens and make itself a cultural landmark for the south-west area of Shanghai. It has now been open for one year, and we wondered whether it has worked as planned.
"I can say that in the first year, we've already achieved our goals, even beyond our original plan," says Fang Yongnian, the vice general manager of the Eastern Culture Company. "We planned to hold 80 commercial performances in 2010, now we have had 91; we planned to make ourself known to the city, now there are many art troupes from other cities and provinces wanting to put their performances on our stage."
"One of the symbols of how popular our performances are is that we found there are ticket touts appearing at our doors when we have shows," Fang joked.
According to Fang, in the first year of Shanghai City Theater, it has held 141 performances of different kinds. Besides the 91 commercial performances, there have also been 27 of active styles and 23 performed by citizens. And of all the commercial performances, the average attendance rate reaches more than 85 percent. By the end of October, there had been more than 80,000 visits to enjoy performances at the theater. In a word, it's a good business report for the first year of a new theater.
The Minhang government didn't only invest a huge amount of money to build up the theater to make a profit. The cultural effects of the theater are what they are really concerned about.
"According to the plan of Minhang Government, the Shanghai City Theater shall become a platform for international cultural communication, as well as a palace hall for our citizens to enjoy the refined art," says Fang. "It shall be a top-ranking theater of international standard, both in hardware and inner qualities."
According to the brand positioning of the theater, the performances must be excellent, otherwise they'll not be introduced. Whether it's "Fame" from Broadway last December, or the forthcoming "Shocking Dinner" by the famous Shanghainese star Chen Peisi, all performances shown on the stage of City Theater are of the highest quality.
"We want to leave our audience such an impression that when they enter our theater, what they're going to see must be a good performance," says Fang. "They expect the best, and we offer the best." With a successful beginning, Fang has greater expectations for the future.
"In the first year our goals were to gain a good reputation in the city and a clear brand positioning. Now we have both," says Fang. "In the second year, we're not only seeking an increase in performances. We already know the great potential of Minhang citizens' consumption power in culture, now we want to help improve their understanding and interests in refined art, and with it, we want to make our brand special from other theaters."
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