By Azim Saiyed
People of Leicester flocked to the New Walk Museum to celebrate Chinese New Year last weekend(Sat 5-Sun 6FEB), as Cosmopolitan Arts organised a string of dazzling events including a procession through the city.
The procession travelled from De Montfort University (DMU) to the clocktower with the beautiful and vibrant finale performance taking place in Green Dragon Square.
Amanda Leandro, founder of the organisation, said: “Considering this year’s Covid-19 issues, we had a massive turnout.
“Everyone was very happy even though the heavens opened up.
“We want to use arts to transcend language barriers by exposing people to other cultures.
“We also hope to promote cultural integration within the community.
“We live in a multicultural society and it is important to build bridges between different cultural communities.”
There were roughly 2,000 people who paraded through the streets of Leicester and the traditional Chinese dragon led the procession from the front.
Students from DMU and University of Leicester turned up in their numbers to take part in the occasion.
Saturday’s exhibition at the New Walk Museum offered a whole range of activities from Chinese calligraphy to live musical performances by Euphoria.
Cosmopolitan Arts has set up Chinese New Year celebrations for the past six years and the Confucius Institute at DMU has also collaborated with it for the last three years.
The wider aim of the organisation is to achieve social harmony and equality.
Alongside these eye-catching performances and successful events, the organisation has been researching Chinese heritage at the same time.
The relationship between Cosmopolitan Arts and Leicester City Council has allowed the team to put on these wonderful events since 2011.
The team is currently working on a documentary screening project involving 15 different culture groups.
Amanda said: “More people should open their eyes and get involved in these events.
“Every single culture should be enjoyed, embraced and experienced.”
Her motive to tackle social inequality has guided her to carry out workshops at the African Caribbean Centre in Leicester to help ethnic minority children.
If you would like to find out more information about future events, then please visit: www.cosmopolitanarts.co.uk.
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