Walk into the Minhou County Cultural Center: Here, be the "watchman in the wheat field"

In the early morning of spring, walking into the Minhou County Cultural Center located on the bank of the Minjiang River, a strong cultural atmosphere comes to the face. Fresh and elegant woodcut classrooms, antique guqin classrooms, well-equipped recording studios, small theaters... This cultural hall covering an area of 3,500 square meters has reached the national first-class pavilion standard. The list of "Ninth National Advanced Collectives for Serving Farmers and Grassroots Cultural Construction" was announced a few days ago, and the Minhou County Cultural Center was among them.

Culture, seemingly invisible, has silently influenced generations of people. How does the Minhou County Cultural Center let culture and art infiltrate the hearts of the people? Journalists come here to listen to the stories between the cultural center and ordinary people in the pulse of the times.

The Minhou County Cultural Center hosted the "Great Craftsman Minhou Skill Inheritance Competition". Photo by reporter Shi Meixiang

Let the dream take off

In the life of Chen Xiang'er, a girl born and raised in Minhou County, the Minhou County Cultural Center is an indispensable presence. At that time, Chen Xiang'er, the fourth grade of primary school, befriended it in the story competition, and since then, the Minhou County Cultural Center has become the place where Chen Xiang'er's dream took off.

The little girl continued to practice in various forms of activities held by the Minhou County Cultural Center, "flying" out of the county seat, and won many awards such as the gold medal of the Fujian Provincial Story King Competition and the first prize of the "Praise for the Motherland" Speech Contest.

"All kinds of competitions held by the Minhou County Cultural Center are purely public welfare and well organized." In the memory of Chen Xiang'er's mother Luo Min, her daughter was still a little timid when she first started participating in the competition, but after repeated experiences, her wings gradually became fuller.

"Through these competitions, Xiang'er got to know many excellent children, which was very helpful for her growth." In Luo Min's view, these public welfare activities carefully organized by the county cultural center have brought "self-confidence", the most beautiful gift in life, to the children of Minhou County.

In the office of the Minhou County Cultural Center, the reporter saw that the works of the "Olive Blossom" Minhou County Youth Calligraphy and Painting Competition for three consecutive years were all assembled into exquisite books. "Although the cost of assembling a book is relatively large, we still insist on leaving such a book, hoping to let the children see that their works have become 'books' and have been cherished." Lin Lin, director of the Minhou County Cultural Center, said that the cultural center holds various speeches, dances, calligraphy and painting competitions all year round, hoping that every child will be influenced by beauty, so that the seeds of art can take root in the hearts of children and accompany them throughout their lives.

"Green olives" have become cultural business cards

Olive is an agricultural business card of Minhou, and the "Green Olive" choir is a cultural "golden signboard" of Minhou County. As the choir "won gold and silver" in major competitions in the province and at home and abroad, Minhou's "green olives" are also well-known.

Founded in 2012, the "Green Olive" choir is composed of vocal lovers from all walks of life in Minhou County, and currently has more than 70 members, ranging in age from 20 to 60 years old.

Lin Hua, a music teacher at The Sugarcane Center Primary School in Minhou County, is a member of the "Green Olive". Since joining the troupe at the age of 36, 10 years have passed, and Lin Hua has always insisted on training and singing in the "Green Olive". "The members of the group are like a big family, and no matter how busy they are, they insist on training rain or shine, just for the love in their hearts." Over the years, Lin Hua grew up with the "green olive", walked out of Minhou together, and flew to the whole country.

"The level of art guidance teachers invited by the county cultural center for us is very high, and the Minhou County Party Committee and county government and the competent departments at all levels have given us great support, and over the years, after some competitions at home and abroad, it is a good experience for me and I have grown." As a primary school music teacher, Lin Hua nourishes the children in the classroom with the nourishment drawn from the "green olive".

The "Green Olive", which has won many awards in major competitions in China, has also become a volunteer "strong team" in the Minhou County Cultural Center that goes deep into the grassroots. "In order to ensure that cultural resources are extended more effectively to the countryside, the Minhou County Cultural Center integrates resources and forms a network resource database." According to the needs of the masses, they can carry out 'a la carte orders' through the database. According to Lin Lin, the Minhou County Cultural Center has accurately distributed to 14 townships (streets) through the brand project "Weekend Farm Theatre" and "Rural Public Welfare Forum". Since 2018, there have been more than 100 "a-la-carte deliveries" and more than 70 "point deliveries", opening up the "last mile" of public cultural services.

"The 'Green Olive' choir has a high order rate, and it turns out that the choir sings on the stage, and the peasant friends are the audience. Nowadays, at the beginning of the rural cultural festival, in addition to the mass literary and art workers, there are also peasant friends in the village who are active in the cultural front. What makes Lin Lin feel very deeply is the great improvement of the cultural taste of the grass-roots masses, "from the original audience to the 'protagonist' on the stage, the peasant friends danced happily on the stage, sang loudly on the country road, and demonstrated their skills and craftsmanship at the event site, and their participation made the rural cultural festival more vibrant." ”

From "hot goods" to "daily necessities"

It is open for up to 56 hours a week, and 70,000 or 80,000 people have benefited in the past five years. Hold the "Art Charity Classroom", and provide free public welfare training for more than 20 projects in the spring, autumn and summer of each year... This is not a group of numbers without vitality, for the people of Minhou County, this is a "close contact" with art again and again, a "poetry and far away" in a busy life, and an infinite nourishment of the soul.

As a cultural worker, Lin Lin is touched by the people's desire for cultural life, but at the same time she feels a heavy responsibility on her shoulders. "What makes me happy and 'distressed' is that every holiday, the crowds of people who walk into the cultural center are endless; every time the public welfare class is enrolled, the quota is always 'grabbed in seconds'. In the future, we will also increase the construction of the front, so that public welfare cultural services will change from 'hot products' to 'daily necessities'. On this road, the Minhou County Cultural Center is also constantly exploring, "In the future, our MOOC classroom will use live broadcasting and recording to allow more people to learn handheld through the Internet." At the same time, we also try to introduce social quality training institutions to let more people join the free public welfare classroom. ”

Russian ballet "Swan Lake", Irish tap dance drama "Titanic", Concert of Central Opera House, Choral Concert of Inner Mongolia Choir... These high-quality performances from all over the world are staged in Minhou County as activities to benefit the people. "When it comes to cultural centers, we are all proud. Over the years, it has also attracted many audiences from Fuzhou city to watch the performance. "The happiness brought by the rich cultural life makes Ms. Su, a citizen, feel very deeply.

After more than ten years of grassroots cultural work, Lin Lin's confidants are more and more, and at the same time, she is grateful for the support of Minhou County for its unremitting efforts to invest in cultural activities. "Doing culture is a 'money-burning' thing, but our ideas always get strong support from leaders at all levels in the county, so that one activity after another can be implemented and bring rich spiritual life to the people." Lin Lin said that although the investment culture cannot see the benefits immediately, it is a cause that is meritorious in the contemporary era and beneficial in the future. "I am willing to be a 'watchman in the wheat field' and guard this spiritual homeland of the people of Minhou."

(Fuzhou Daily)