Over the past three days the "2017 Guangdong–Hong Kong Magic Exchange Conference Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong's Return", a series of events supported by Guangdong's programme for mass cultural activities and hosted by the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Guangdong Acrobats Association, brought more than 30 magicians from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan — among them Ruxianguli, Luo Feixiong and Dai Wuqi — together at Happy Valley Shenzhen.
(From left to right) Sun Qiufeng, member of the Party Group and Secretary-General of the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles; Li Ruiqi, Secretary of the Party Group of the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles; Wang Rengang, Secretary of the Party Group of the China Acrobats Association; Cheng Yang, Secretary of the Party Group of the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles; and Yan Dan, general manager of Happy Valley Shenzhen
Over the three days, celebrations in the magic world ran without pause at Happy Valley, with 15 events in all, including a press conference, an opening magic performance, a magic symposium, magic lectures, magic salons and a closing gala. In the days ahead the organizers will continue to provide a high-level platform for magic exchange between Guangdong and Hong Kong and to bring audiences outstanding performances by Chinese magicians.
Guangdong: a uniquely favoured location
It is no surprise that a magic exchange conference marking the anniversary of Hong Kong's return should be held in Guangdong. "In China, the magic world has its own brands in Guangdong, Shanghai and Beijing, but Guangdong has a distinctive regional advantage: it is close to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, so it can make full use of that geographical strength, learn from their good experience, and study the tricks and the thinking of their magicians," said Sun Qiufeng, member of the Party Group and Secretary-General of the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
Guangdong's artists have always known how to value and use that favoured location. Sun Qiufeng said that work to strengthen magic exchanges among Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan has never stopped in recent years. "There has been a great deal of exchange before — the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Exchange Showcase held every two years, for example; and this conference, which on the one hand provides a platform for artists of the magic world in Guangdong and Hong Kong to meet, and more importantly turns up new talent and new works along the way." The "Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Exchange Showcase" that Sun mentioned is hosted by the Department of Arts of the Ministry of Culture, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, organized by the Guangdong Acrobats Association, and held once every two years. To date it has been staged three times.
Exchange among Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan has never been interrupted
2012: the first Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Showcase was held. According to the organizers, 12 of the participating magicians came from the mainland and five from Hong Kong, with six each from Macao and Taiwan; more than half were young magicians born in the 1980s, and the youngest was only 18. That year the gold award carried a prize of 30,000 yuan.
2014: the second Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Showcase was held, with a stage magic competition, a close-up magic competition, magic salons, a props exhibition and an awards ceremony. More than 100 competitors, experts and guests from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the mainland took part in this gathering of the magic world. So that more ordinary viewers could enjoy high-level acrobatics and magic, subsidized tickets at 80 yuan each made up as much as 40 per cent of the seats at every performance.
2016: during the third Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Exchange Showcase the organizers staged six main programmes — stage magic, close-up magic, a newcomers' showcase, a theoretical symposium of magic experts, lectures and salons — and 105 magicians from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Guangdong gave audiences top-flight performances. Alongside the established sections, the event added a newcomers' programme and a close-up magic programme. In the newcomers' programme every performer was under 35, the youngest only 17.
Talent: an unending source of innovation
Over the three days of exchange activities, magicians from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan gave visitors an opening performance, the Guangdong–Hong Kong co-produced magic play The Secret of 279, a Guangdong–Hong Kong close-up magic showcase and many other fine shows. A number of the innovative, cross-genre pieces made audiences sit up. Some combined magic with musical theatre, some drew on elements of the traditional Lingnan school of painting, some brought an "aeroplane" on stage, and one performed magic in a tight ballet tutu with nowhere to hide a prop…
Guangdong has produced more and more magic talent in recent years, with a steady stream of inventive acts — the result not only of constant exchange with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan but also of the popular base magic enjoys in the province. "The popular base of magic in Guangdong is better than in many places, and it is very widespread," the magician Ruxianguli said with evident pride. "On this count Guangdong can be called the leader. Today 57 universities and colleges in Guangdong have magic clubs, the Guangdong University Magic Alliance is very active, and all kinds of magic bars and magic websites are thriving." These young people from the universities are, in Ruxianguli's view, the hope of the profession. "In our day it was master and apprentice, and we did not have much book learning. But these young people today are educated and enormously imaginative. They are the hope of this profession!" (For more news, follow Yangcheng Pai at pai.ycwb.com)