After more than 40 days of careful preparation, the “Research on Industrial and Cultural Images in Shicun Village” image exhibition opened on August 3 at the Shicun Village Cultural Hall. Shicun is a village subordinated to Tangxi Town, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City.
From June to August, students from the School of Culture and Communication, as members of the “Exploring Shicun’s Culture and Capturing Shicun’s Images” summer social practice team, stayed in Shicun for over 40 days. Braving the scorching heat, they conducted in-depth field investigations, exploring and documenting the development trajectory of rural industrialization in Shicun as well as the evolution and current status of the village culture. Additionally, they engaged in image creation on various themes to record and archive the village’s development.
“We understand the village through its people, and we explore the evolution of the village through the stories of its people,” explained Ding Jiayi, the organizer of the exhibition. Ding, a student from the class 191 majoring in Network and New Media, is an experienced member who has participated in three seasons of “Faces of the Village” photography projects. During the over 40 days, the team members’ most profound experience was “becoming friends with the villagers”. They shared meals with villagers, climbed mountains together, picked up litter with volunteers, joined the villagers’ cheongsam team to enjoy the beautiful scenery at the mountaintop, and attended parties at villagers’ homes in the evenings. The villagers even gave the team watermelons, luffas, eggplants, and long beans. Ms. Zhou Jinye, head of the women’s association of Shicun, exclaimed, “It turns out the villagers in our village are so warm-hearted!”
Based on field investigations and in-depth interviews, the team formulated a three-dimensional framework plan—“Individual Stories”, “Horizontal Social Life”, and “Vertical History”. This eventually resulted in the visual creation on six themes. The team summarized the entire activity in a portfolio. Additionally, adapting to local conditions, they organized an on-site photography exhibition infused with a strong artistic atmosphere, drawing the attention of Shicun villagers, who stopped to admire the photographs. They gathered in small groups in front of the artworks, their radiant expressions revealing their love for the exhibition. The exhibition received approval from the Tangxi Town Party Committee, who wrote a letter to the team members, presented them with banners, and awarded them honorary certificates.
During the team’s stay in the village, a delegation from our university, including Wang Weizhong, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and vice president of ZWU; Gong Yi, secretary of the ZWU Youth League Committee; Jiang Ying, deputy Secretary of the ZWU Youth League Committee; Ma Jia, secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Culture and Communication; and Kan Shuangyu, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Culture and Communication, visited the Hong’ao Cultural Hall in Shicun Village, where the portraits of older villagers were being shot, free of charge. Hosted by teacher Wang Yaling, they met and exchanged ideas with Shi Lei, secretary of the Communist Party Branch of Shicun Village. During the exchange, the Communication Department of the Tangxi Town Party Committee affirmed our university’s high regard for social practice activities by college students and conveyed greetings to the directing teachers and the students on the “Faces of the Village” photography team. On the morning of August 3, the first day of the exhibition, Ma Jia, along with Xu Boping, secretary of the Party Committee of Haichuang Community, and Li Xu, director of the Communication Department of the Tangxi Town Party Committee, visited the exhibition site. They appreciated the works of art and attentively listened to the stories behind the works.
The participants in this on-site image exhibition were mainly students and teachers from the School of Culture and Communication. They represented various majors, including Network and New Media, Journalism, Advertising, and International Economics and Trade, totaling over 20 individuals. This activity vividly demonstrated the close integration of our university’s social practice with professional development, discipline competitions, ideological and political education in courses, and talent cultivation plans. The exhibition received wide positive feedback and was covered by several media outlets, including Ningbo Evening News, Yongpai and Yinxing.
Currently, “Faces of the Village” has entered its eighth season, with numerous teachers and students actively involved. This initiative has provided comprehensive training in writing, photography, production, and communication. Teachers, along with students, have ventured into rural areas, creating outstanding works with genuine emotions on the field and land. With the passion of youth and professional competence, they are composing a new chapter in the assistance of rural revitalization in the new era.