The National College Students' Intangible Cultural Heritage Micro-Documentary Competition, co-hosted by our institute, has successfully concluded

On August 21, the "Discovering the Beauty of Intangible Cultural Heritage" — the First National College Student Intangible Cultural Heritage Project (Naxi Dongba Painting) Micro-Documentary Training Camp and Research Competition concluded successfully in Lijiang, Yunnan. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Naxi Dongba Painting being listed as a representative project of the national intangible cultural heritage. Young students from multiple universities used their cameras as pens and creativity as a medium to approach Dongba culture through field investigations, image recording, and digital creation. They told stories of intangible cultural heritage from a youthful perspective, presenting a vibrant and special tribute to the ancient Naxi Dongba painting. 

The event was jointly organized by the Lijiang Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University, the Academy of Cultural Heritage and Creativity at Jinan University, and other institutions. The competition featured two main tracks: micro-documentary and AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content), aiming to combine traditional image recording with new technologies such as AI-generated content to explore new pathways for the protection, inheritance, and dissemination of intangible cultural heritage in the digital age. Since its launch, the competition has attracted widespread attention, with 110 teams from 67 domestic and international universities registering to participate. The participants come from diverse academic backgrounds including tourism management, journalism and communication, cultural industry management, radio and television directing, digital media art, fine arts, ethnology, folklore, and intangible cultural heritage protection, showcasing a distinct interdisciplinary character. 

The competition officially started in mid-May. In June, the organizers invited scholars from various universities and research institutions across the country to provide nine high-quality specialized public training sessions for the participating students, enhancing their theoretical foundation, enriching their knowledge base, and improving their documentary production skills. The preliminary round was completed in early July, with 20 teams from both tracks advancing to the finals. From August 12 to 21, the finalist teams gathered in Lijiang. Under the on-site guidance of Associate Professor Hao Xiaofei from our school, they visited the living and working places of Dongba painting inheritors and Dongba cultural heritage sites. Through interviews with intangible cultural heritage inheritors, field research, creative work, evaluation defenses, and academic exchanges, the students deeply understood the spiritual connotations and cultural essence behind Dongba painting in this mobile classroom experience.

After the project defense and expert review, a selection of outstanding works combining cultural depth and innovative expression were chosen from the two categories. The first prize in the micro-documentary category was awarded to the team from Yunnan Minzu University for their work "Millennia of Calligraphy and Painting." This piece presents the cultural lineage of Dongba script and Dongba painting spanning a thousand years, showcasing the dedication and innovation of intangible cultural heritage inheritors through authentic documentation. The first prize in the AIGC category was awarded to the "Mufu Fengyun Artists Team" for their work "The Adventure of Aruna Dongba Painting." This work attempts to use artificial intelligence generation technology to make Dongba paintings the world where the story unfolds, demonstrating new possibilities arising from the collision of traditional culture and digital technology.

The student team from our institute, "The Artisans Team," won the second prize in the AIGC category with their work "Dupan Xiufu | The Mountain and Sea Covenant Hidden in the Dongba Scriptures." They selected the Dongba scripture "Xiufu Shua Ai" as the narrative foundation and used a youthful and digital innovative expression to tell the story of the relationship between humans and nature. This showcases our students' interdisciplinary thinking and active exploration in the fields of cultural heritage preservation and digital communication.

From online public welfare courses to field research in Lijiang, from face-to-face exchanges with intangible cultural heritage inheritors to completing a series of youth-perspective video works, this competition was not only a micro-documentary creation contest but also an interdisciplinary, immersive practice of intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance led by university students. In addition, throughout the nearly four-month-long event, our college’s organizing team collaborated closely with the local team led by the Lijiang City Cultural Center to form a professional and efficient working group. They worked in close coordination to advance the schedule, actively leveraged the expert resources from both sides, and strictly ensured the competition’s fairness, justice, and transparency. This process accumulated valuable experience for further exploring and expanding government-industry-academia-research cooperation in areas such as cultural heritage tourism and the integration of culture and tourism development.

Throughout the entire process of this event, from project inception and creative planning to its successful conclusion, we received strong support from multiple universities, institutions, and experts and scholars. We would like to extend special thanks to: Professor Chen Ping, Chief Chair of the UNESCO Chair on World Traditional Handicrafts: Inheritance and Innovation; Associate Professor Gao Jun, Co-Chair of the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Tourism in UNESCO Designated Sites; Professor Xiang Yong from the Institutefor Cultural Innovation, Peking University; Professor Zhang Chaozhi and Young Associate Researcher Zhang Jingru from the Department of Tourism, Fudan University; Professor Dai Juncheng from the School of Culture and Communication, Central University of Finance and Economics; Professor Yang Fuquan from Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences; Researcher Bao Jiang from the Institute of Sociology, CASS; Research Curator Wang Xuefeng from the Folk Art Department of the National Art Museum of China; Professor Yang Hongrong from Lijiang Normal College; Professor Liu Guangyu from the College of Movie and Media, Sichuan Normal University; Xie Zhongjun, Deputy Head of the Resource Development Group at the China Memory Project, National Libraryof China; Associate Professor Li Gang from the School of Arts, Chongqing University; Assistant Professor Gao Dongjuan from the School of Journalism and Communication, Guangxi University; Associate Professor Xie Jia from the School of Tourism Management, South China Normal University; Director He Zhijun from the Lijiang (International) Institute of Ethnic Culture and Arts; Lecturer Li Taotao from the School of Software Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University; and Associate Professors Hao Xiaofei and Guo Yunjiao from the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University.