On the morning of January 10, inside the New Era Civilization Practice Station of Xingwan Community in Tangjiawan Town, Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, the sounds of singing, musical instruments and laughter interweaved and echoed. A monthly joint rehearsal event by community self-organized groups themed “Blooming Art·Painting a Bright Future for Xingwan” was in full swing here. This seemingly ordinary art rehearsal represents an innovative practice of Xingwan Community to deepen social governance and cultivate residents’ principal role.
Walking into the New Era Civilization Practice Station of Xingwan Community, one is impressed by the diversity of its functional zones. The equipment area, parent-child activity room, theory lecture hall, dance rehearsal hall, community laboratory and other multi-functional spaces together form a comprehensive platform serving residents’ spiritual and cultural life.
“It is with these high-quality space guarantees that the community’s artistic power has found fertile ground to take root and grow,” a community staff member said. Here, a number of standardized, orderly and vibrant resident self-organized teams have been formed one after another, including chorus, instrumental music, dance and Tai Chi groups. Residents have transformed from “onlookers” in the past to “organizers” and “participants” of community cultural activities.
At the joint rehearsal site, there was no tension of competition, only the joy of mutual learning and the desire to show themselves. Members from different art groups gathered early, creating a harmonious and warm atmosphere. Melodious and affectionate chorus, fresh and touching instrumental performances, energetic dances, and Tai Chi shows combining hardness and softness – various programs compiled, directed and performed by residents took turns on stage. These “art around us” rooted in the community vividly demonstrated the community’s positive spiritual outlook.
The regular communication mechanism established by the joint rehearsals has effectively promoted resource sharing and experience learning among teams, forming a sound ecosystem of “uniting people through culture and promoting integration via art”. All teams took the initiative to observe and learn from each other during the performances, showing the improvement of residents’ abilities in self-management and service.
The art self-organized groups in Xingwan Community have not stopped at internal rehearsals. According to the community director, in the future, all teams will make full use of the space resources of the practice station to jointly plan and participate in various activities such as themed shows for “Our Festivals”, community public welfare tours, parent-child science popularization theaters and healthy living salons.
“This means that art creation will be deeply integrated with community services, science popularization education and health promotion,” the director stated. “The ‘Xing·Art Gathering’ monthly joint rehearsal will be established as a long-term mechanism to continuously cultivate and support community self-organized groups, stimulate residents’ internal motivation to participate in community affairs, promote a profound transformation of community governance from ‘single-party management’ to ‘multi-stakeholder co-governance’, and blaze an innovative path of promoting residents’ harmony through cultural edification and deepening social governance through residents’ participation.”