A day of Chinese art and culture this weekend will signal that the Northern Territory’s Confucius Institute is open for business at Charles Darwin University.
Colourful dragon dancers will kick off the institute’s first Chinese Cultural Day, offering Territorians the opportunity to attend classes in basic Chinese language, calligraphy and paper cutting, along with a taste of Chinese traditional food, music and dance.
Confucius Institute Chinese Co-Director Mr Donghe Liu said the institute, opened in July this year, was established to make people more aware of the friendship between China and the Territory and to promote an understanding of Chinese culture.
“This is the first event for the institute and we hope to engage the local community by providing a day packed with opportunities to learn from experts in Chinese traditional art, music and language,” Mr Liu said.
“There will be something for the whole family, including performances from the local Chinese community and even a chopsticks competition for all ages.”
Mr Liu said the day was also an opportunity for people to find out about the short courses on offer at the Institute from early next year.
“We have short courses in Chinese language and culture on offer over four semesters commencing next year,” Mr Liu said. “Those wanting to find out more or enrol for next year should come along to get a taste of the courses on offer.”
The Chinese Cultural Day will be held on Saturday, 3 November from 11am to 3pm in building Red 2, CDU Casuarina campus. For map details visit: www.cdu.edu.au/campusmaps/maps/cas_map.pdf