The 2021 International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Road Special Dialogue held recently in Changsha, Hunan province, opens up a window for promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Jointly organized by UNESCO, the China National Commission for UNESCO, the Changsha government, and Nanjing government, the forum was conducted in an online and offline model with UNESCO officials and experts from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Themed with Enhancing Youth Leadership in Innovative Creativity, Heritage Protection and Resilience Development, the forum aims to promote exchanges among young people from all over the world through dialogue.

Zheng Jianxin, mayor of Changsha, said the city is a famous cultural city with a history of more than 3,000 years. "It is vibrant, open and inclusive city of innovation."

In recent years, Changsha has insisted on integrating innovative and creative ideas into the whole process of urban construction, industrial development and environmental optimization, promoting the deep integration of media arts and traditional industries, and incubating creative industries such as fireworks and digital videos.

Changsha will follow the goal of building an international cultural and creative center, look forward to strengthening exchanges and deepening cooperation with member cities within the Creative Cities Network, open up a new world of cultural and creative areas in technological innovation, network interoperability, and digital transformation, and build a closer community with a shared future for mankind, he said.

Representatives from Changsha and young people from various countries conducted discussions on topics such as carrying out resilient world heritage protection and building resilient and inclusive cities.

Recently, an exhibition named The 2021 China Changsha Media Art International Residency was launched. The exhibition invited eight young domestic and foreign artists to visit Changsha for one and a half months. The cultural and historical heritage and urban development trajectory of the city are integrated into artistic creation. Eight groups of art works engraved with Changsha symbols and cultural characteristics are created, and a more colorful Changsha is presented to everyone with innovative creativity and imagination.

The work Dream of Red Mansions by Portuguese artist Joseph Dimo looks like a black room on the outside with a red labyrinth picture hung on the wall. The most amazing part about this work is its sound. When a visitor steps into the room, his or her ears are instantly filled with low voices.

According to the artist, the frequency of these sound waves is close to brain waves, and the purpose is to create a meditation space. The inspiration comes from the artist's meditation experience in the Yuelu Mountain. The forum is an international youth cultural exchange event organized under the framework of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Since the first forum was held in April 2017, an important platform for cultural exchanges has been established between Changsha and countries and regions involved in BRI as well as member cities of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.

Chen Peng, member of the standing committee of the Changsha city Party committee and deputy mayor of Changsha, said the city is an area of tradition and modernity, elegance and fashion, culture and economy.

Feng Zhiwei and Zhu Youfang contributed to this story.