About the Network of Silk Road Arts Festivals

The Network of Silk Road Arts Festivals (hereinafter referred to as “the Network”) is initiated by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival and several arts festivals in the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. It is a voluntary network, serving as a platform of openness, inclusiveness, and mutual learning.

Following the concepts of mutual consultation, joint development, and shared benefits, and upholding the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and mutual learning, the Network is committed to establishing an open, diverse, and accessible network and an international exchange and cooperation mechanism that benefits all Network members, to encourage exchanges and collaborative programming, co-commissions/co-productions, arts education, and cultural industry talent training programmes. It was established to bridge and promote international cultural exchanges and cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative countries and beyond, to explore the innovative dynamics of arts and culture, and to realize the diversified, independent, balanced, and sustainable development of arts and culture in each country through international cultural ties.

The Network’s predecessor was the Belt and Road Arts Festivals Cooperation Network, founded in 2015 by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival and four other major arts festivals. Twenty-two festivals and institutions from 18 countries and regions participated in this first network iteration, and many new cooperative agreements were initiated. In 2016, the Network was further expanded, with more than 60 arts festivals and important cultural institutions from 30 countries participating in the initiative. Launched on 20 October 2017 during the 19th China Shanghai International Arts Festival, the Network now numbers 198 member organizations from 52 countries and regions.