NANJING Nov. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- "Protecting the Mother River - Global Sound Drift Program", an important part of the 2023 "China Nanjing Week" series of activities, has been in full swing, according to the activity organizing partners, including the Global Network of Water Museums (WAMU-NET), the National Water Conservancy Museum Alliance, the China Water Conservancy Museum and the Yangtze River Culture Nanjing Forum Committee.
The activity, lasting from September 24 (World Rivers Day) to mid-November in 2023, with "River Convergence for a Sustainable Future" as its theme, will collect literary and natural sounds from the Yangtze River and other major river basins around the world.
Rivers give birth to cities and are the origin of human civilization. With the deepening of the industrialization process, global climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, and the destruction of cultural heritage in waterfront spaces have brought new challenges to human civilization.
The Yangtze River is an iconic symbol of Chinese civilization. As the only city by the Yangtze River among the four ancient capitals in China, Nanjing is also an important regional hub city in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. "Nanjing Week", in collaboration with the upcoming Yangtze River Culture Nanjing Forum, will regard "Protecting the Mother River - Global Sound Drift Program" as an important global co-creation activity, in a bid to invoke respect and understanding of the Mother River through sounds and encourage more people to engage in actions to protect rivers.
The activity has attracted attention from around the world. Nanjing is China's only "City of Literature". Writers and poets such as Lu Min, Hu Xian, Yu Bang, Huang Fan, Li Qiang, and Simon (Yong He), a famous poet and sinologist from Brindisi, Italy, and 12 other Chinese linguists, translators, and literature professors from Spain and other countries jointly read out the works.
The activity has also helped forge collaboration with organizations from over 30 countries including the Yangtze River Museum, the Yellow River Museum, the Living Waters Museum in India, the Mohammed VI Museum for the Civilization of Water in Morocco, the Water Museum of Venice, the Youth magazine, the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere, the China-Italy Cultural Exchange and Development Center, the University of Cambridge, Yale University, University College London, and Nanjing University.
At present, more than 100 literary and natural sounds have been received from the Rhine, Danube, Ganges, Nile, Mississippi, Amazon, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers, covering over 35 waterfront cities, including Nanjing in China, Boston in the United States, London in the UK, Milan in Italy and Stockholm in Sweden.
After the event, all participants who have uploaded works and offered support will receive participation certificates issued by the organizers, and the works will be donated to the World Blind Union (WBU) as part of a charitable cultural initiative.
