CDAC (3): The Funny plays Lao music at Yunnan University
On the campus of Yunnan University, there is a Lao band called The Funny. These days, the band members are gearing up for a party by friends from the Mekong countries, and they hope to have a cross-cultural exchange via music.
"We are the actors of cultural exchanges among Asian civilizations," said the Lao students, mentioning the ongoing Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) in Beijing.
The Funny band is made up of six Lao students in Kunming, with Awen taking the lead. Since it was set up 4 years ago, the band has been visible on various occasions: the cultural exchanges for international students, the events at the university, and activities by the Consulate General of Laos in Kunming.
Following their performance, the audience would come to the stage and pose with the Lao musicians for a group photo, talking to them about their singing and dance. Whenever this happens, Awen feels their performance is meaningful.
"For cultural exchanges, music is a sound medium, via which we introduced to our friends the traditional culture of Laos, while making friends with people of different cultural backgrounds," said Awen.
Band member Li Zhenqiang can still remember the occasion in 2017, when they were invited to the first Cultural Exchange Week for International Students in Yunnan Province.
“In the event, I got to know about the diverse ethnic cultures in Yunnan and made friends with other international students,” said Li. “Now we often meet to chat about our cultural identities.”
For them, music makes a cause to meet, an easy way to communicate, an eye opener to the outside world, and a medium for mutual learning among the civilizations.
To perform on May 20 at the first anniversary celebration of the Lancang-Mekong party (LMp), a WeChat public account under the Mekong Magazine, the band is working hard these days.
They take each performance seriously, because they enjoy it and so cherish it.
Reporting by Yao Chengcheng; trans-editing by Wang Shixue