Operating since January, the over 16-hundred-square-meter Culture and Art center in Changji is the second of its kind in Xinjiang after the establishment of "Qifang street" in the capital, Urumqi.
Around 20 workshops have already been set up by local artists covering different artistic genres, including oil painting, folk music and embroidery.
Local singer Kou Hong from the Hui, or Muslim, ethnic group in Xinjiang is running a 20 square-meter workshop in the cultural center.
She says she wants to use the new cultural center to promote the Hui singing style known as "Hua'er," or "flower."
"The government has separated the center from the local library in an attempt to provide local artists a platform. This is indeed encouraging. Personally speaking, the center really offers me a big stage where I can not only promote Hua'er folk music, but also embroidery. We have signed a 5-year contract with the center. During the period, all rentals are free and we only need to pay utility costs and maintenance fees. All others costs are picked up by the government."
Each artist only needs to pay around 20-yuan per square meter a year in running their own workshop.
Cui Jicheng is a renowned Han oil painter.
His work mostly displays the mountain landscapes of Xinjiang.
Cui Jicheng was the first to establish a workshop at the cultural center at the start of this year.
He says by setting up shop at the center, it allows him to concentrate on painting and leave other issues to the management team at the center.
"In the center, we have a supporting group named 'Houtian International', which is responsible for helping painters promote their work and find buyers for us. The art center offers us a variety of services ranging from production to sales. Several days ago, many pieces from 14 local painters, including some of mine, were sold out at an art auction held by the center."
Meanwhile, an Internet startup has also been established at the arts and cultural center.
Cui Fangyi is the manager of e-commerce firm "Teng Yun."
Her team is currently setting up an online store for the art center.
"Right now, we are still in the process of doing our background maintenance. But we will eventually display all the pieces of work from the artists in our center. This will include Hua'er CDs, paintings and embroidery work. Our staff members are all university graduates hoping to work in the e-marketing field. This office and our equipment are fully provided by the local government."
Cui Fangyi's team is also working on the design of a mobile app to promote local culture in Changji.
For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.
