​艺穗一起玩Arts Matter，Fringe Together

Since the Shenzhen Fringe Festival was launched in 2010, "art for everyone, stage for everywhere" has been our belief, and for ten years the Shenzhen Fringe Festival has not so much sought and intervened in the city's culture as it has continuously reinvented itself along with the city's changes. 

 

The year 2020 gives us extra time to discover, to record, to think about everything we take for granted. People's desire to connect , has always been there, just usually buried under a network of illusion, and delivering this desire is at the heart of the performing arts. This year's special circumstances, on the contrary, highlight the undiminished art. When I saw the enthusiasm of artists from all over the world to participate in the Fringe, I still missed the touching experience of being an organizer, and the sense of being a human being and being with others. There are difficulties, but there is always a way, right? 

 

The Fringe Festival is always looking for breakthroughs. This year, we are committed to deepening the four categories of cross-border collaboration, cultivating new talent, commissioning new works, and local participation, and are divided into six sections: Fringe Theatre, Fringe Presence, Fringe in the Wild, Fringe in Town, Fringe Shop, and Fringe Online. We turn everyday living environments into performance venues, and we will see Fringe performances on rooftops, parks, streets, buses, and bookstores, as we infiltrate the cultural fabric of the city of Shenzhen bit by bit. At a time when special times are trying to distance the world from each other, Fringe artists are connecting Shenzhen to the world with their performances overseas. Yes, the Fringe stage is everywhere.

 

This year we invited Evening Cinema, a Japanese band, to write the theme song for the Shenzhen Fringe Festival. As the lyrics say, "Beat as one", we hope that the art event will store up its power, deliver its message, and use it as a medium to dissolve conflicts in the city or influence people's attention to various groups, which we think will be the meaning behind our work. 

 

Art can be engaged and is necessary. All we are trying to do is hope that you will step outside your home and come to the Fringe. We can all share and care about each other. Art makes us more resilient and brings hope, and we look forward to everyone playing with the Fringe.

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