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A group of eye-catching cultural art performers appeared in New York in recent years, bringing new colour to the life of people in the economic downturned city. From western painting , photography, violin, piano, vocal music, dancing to the mysterious, classical Chinese martial arts and the forgotten Han Chinese clothing , are all include in their “Cultural and creative promotion” They aim to inherited traditional Chinese culture and to revive the spirits and skills of the exquisite western classical arts.

The group is led by the New Tang Dynasty Television in New York, with the aid of the New Tang Dynasty Asia Pacific Television in Taiwan and many other branches in Europe, Australia, and Canada. They have also held international competitions annually for five years, conquering all barriers and difficulties. Plunging into the origin of their innovation in cultural and creative promotion,

we see that it blossomed from a

culture;; that is what draws the eye of professionals from around the world. As the day went by, more and more intellectuals joined in. It is perhaps more accurate to portray what they do a s “ rena i s sance” than “promot ion” Wi thout the support of any political parties or consortium, but with their faith and knowledge alone, tens

of thousands of volunteers in this group dedicate themselves to this work.

What is the next wave in art?

When the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Arts in Soho, New York was closed and rented to be the flagship store of the Italian brand Prada, it became a hot topic widely discussed. There are others who

Reviving Lost Legends

By Wei Jane Chir Translated by Andrew Chen

NTDTV: legacy and cultural innovation

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suspect that the rumor of fake

arts in Guggenheim was in fact

commercial operation. Many

art galleries were beginning

to migrate to newly developed

areas like Chelsea, and Soho

transformed from an art district

into a favourite area of fashion

lovers and consumers;; before

long, Chelsea followed the

same footsteps. Perhaps this

is the path that a city naturally

undergoes, however, many who

wonder: “what is art to people

today? How many still paint?”

though people had addressed

this question a hundred years

ago before the invention of

cameras.

With the revolution of

Internet media, information

and images can be summoned

at easy;; fashion design transport

its influence through images,

mu l t ip l y ing the s easona l

stimulation thousands of times

before the Internet was created.

In contrast, pure painting art

works have decreased and art

galleries have disappeared one

by one;; the thick gallery manual

were reduced to only one-­third

of its original pages while some

were lost completely. More and

more artists turn to multimedia

creation;; art and fashion seems

to have combined . These

!ird, "the world of the NTDTV International Chinese Culinary Competition in Times Square reproduction the Datang Long An Shengjing. (Photography / New Era Weekly)

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phenomena probably had never occurred in the western art history;; perhaps it had, in the Weimar Bauhaus period in German, but it was only regional.

Inheriting the old and creating new cultural opportunities

In 2008, the New Tang Dynasty Television presented a series of nine international competitions that aim to restore

culinary competitions were included as well as western classical oil painting, violin, piano, and vocal competition. The rules were strictly followed without exception. The event seems to be against the trend in this metropolis of innovation, yet, it is actually a new fountain of modern culture.

T h e a nnu a l c l a s s i c a l

held by NTDTV brings a fresh

experience to ballet-­lovers. In the past, people only know about ballet, but few recognizes

even real ize i ts existence. Through the compet i t ion, and the clear explanation of the judges, more and more professionals understand what

The mysterious oriental

Lee, are drawing more and more western practitioners. Starting from 2011, western people can participant in the International

present as one the authentic schools listed in the faction. There have always been many schools are martial arts in

the authentic and traditional?

statement in section 247 of New

T r a d i t i o n i s a collaboration between heritage and creativity

one of the representatives of takeaways that do not give attention to the ingredients.

cuisine has always put stress on the contents and procedures;; the monotonous formulaic use of seasoning of fatal to the essence

In the past, different regions

cuisines base on the resources provided and the local tradition;; nowadays, these styles have lost their boundaries. When the competitions were first held, many famous chefs from Taiwan participated, yet, few

of people do not understand, for Taiwan is well-­known for its delicacies and all styles of

there, why were there so few winners? It is because the skills

which would lose one points instead of earning more;; what is asked of the chefs are not combination or improvement but the most original and

Lucia Aliberti bring together with !e winners of 5th Annual Vocal Competition at Carnegies Hall's Stern Auditorium this October 30th 2011 for the Future Stars Recital.

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authentic Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Huaiyang and Northeast cuisines.

What should be called to attention about this competition is that in order to revive the essence of Chinese cuisine, an outdoor kitchen was designed especially for the contest. These recreation of Tang Dynasty outdoor ki tchen carr iages are used at Times Square, transferred the plaza back to ancient ChangAn, China. They had been a high expectation of the participants for the past two years and ripple in New Yorker. The deduct ion of Eastern cultural industry from within is limitless;; even South Korea noodles are soiled with light, attached to two years of active sponsorship. This is the charm of a rich cultural heritage which can bring prosperity many other industries related.

Each and every one of the competition had faced the threat and obstruction from the Chinese Communist.

Fortunately, many chefs still fought against the pressure and participated in the competition. One senior Cantonese chef said in a interview: “The NTDTV holding this competition can truly help elevate the status of Chinese cuisine. I have tried for over forty years to do so, using magazines, organizations and so on, but was never as effective as this Culinary Competition.” Mr. Ton graduated from the Britannia Royal Naval College and had always loved Chinese cooking. Forty years ago, he migra ted f rom Ta iwan to Pennsylvania, USA and opened a restaurant, found the Flavour and For tune Magaz ine to promote Chinese delicacies and arts. He had been on TV demonstrating for the western audiences and was said to be the original producer of the Iron Chef series.

The apparel of antiquity leads to new fashions

Cultural and heritage are inseparable;; great cultural and

can be brought to existence easily. Many Western brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton all have a history of a century,

Classical Chinese dance has its own set of training methods in basic skills and has strict training in both physical expression and speci!c postures.

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and is still stars of modern day

trends. Their design did not

pop out of thin air, but rely

on innovation and creativity.

The great British designer who

we recently lost, Alexander

McQueen had not only inherited

the skills, but was also familiar

with the culture of many other

nations. He also reflection on

his birth place and blend his

ideas into his designs. Although

he fell after his suicide, his

impact on modern fashion and

trends was beyond imagination.

Han Chinese C loth ing

Competition urges Chinese to

retrieve their moral and sense

of beauty;; the joyous colors,

rich lines of design are all

something new to the New York

clothing industry. Ann Roth,

who had won the Academy

Award for costume design said

after she saw the photos of

previous competitions: "This

is a amazing!" She wanted the

designers in her studio to study

each of those Chinese clothing

design.

N o m a t t e r h o w t h e

t imes change, people st i l l

enjoy profound, classic, and

orthodox art works. Each of the

competitions held by the NTDTV

has its own complete system

and origin. It is a tremendous

art and culture reconstruction.

Painting, and contemporary art

Painting is the last topic

to discuss. The International

Chinese Real ist ic Portrait

Competition held by NTDTV

is aimed to promote classical

western arts. It is held in hope

of awakening the spirit of

traditional school of art which

may seem l ike a t ide that

struggled against the trend.

Starting from the Impressionist

Monet’s paintings, capturing the

light and shadow and exploring

the art of painting from the

point of physical studies, the

path for arts appeared to have

broadened. However, this path

simplified the skills and talents

required for creating great

painting. Joseph Beuys had said:

"Everyone is an artist." Perhaps

everyone can be an artist, but

not everyone can become a great

painter.

An art is t not only has

to accurate ly p ic turesque

images but also deliver deeper

Products were extended to the Tang Dynasty Series ContestLe!: Tang grass disk Middle: small sedan chair right: Tang grass umbrell

(design by Wei Jane Chir )

"e kitchen skills contest of Tang outdoor kitchen cart, Times Square, playing a think Changan, causing a wave for all to see. (kitchen cart design by Wei Jane Chir , 3D production by Xu Genjie )

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meanings and ideas. This is the elementary requirement of the International Chinese Realistic Portrait Competition, and it is truly challenging. Connection of the s tory and di f ferent characters, the selection of models and the background environment are all tasks that cannot be solved easily by modern technology. It is very different painting while looking at a photograph and looking at real-­life models: photos are plane, and losing the three-­dimensional presences, photos can only be used as an adjuvant. In the past, this type of painting was very costly. Starting from 2008, NTDTV have held the painting competitions and encourage western traditional

schools of their styles, and participants are increasing every year;; this year, the third annual competition had attracted more than 140 applicants and had received excellent results.

L o o k i n g f r o m t h e perspective of different schools, this promotion is actual ly reawakening of “painting.” If we take a tour to the Art Students of League New York, located on 57th Street, New York which has a history of 130 years, we can see that for seven days a week, models are there for those who are devoted to realistic arts to practice real-­life painting. Courses are packed in popular teacher's class, and some even

have to wait months to squeeze in. Images can be downloaded from the Internet, but only paintings are real first-­hand information.

Very sects or doctr ine have their own rise and fall. It has been over a century since the birth of Impressionism, and it gone through disputes with many other schools;; it is not impossible to return to

traditional Realism. New York had always been the stage of western art culture and the NTDTV realizes this;; it is also the reason to hold the nine competitions here. While China and Taiwan are promoting culture and soft power, millions in this group have been working hard in this metropolis for five years, summoning the elites

to step to an era together.

September 13, 2009, the second session of the NTDTV Global Han Couture Design Competition Winners invited to New York Fashion Week catwalk of Han Chinese clothing, stunning fashion. (Photography / Edward)