Recently, the results of the 2026 "Youth Ambassador Exchange and Learning Program" (YES Project) were announced, and the School of Art's application for the "Jinling·Memory" International Cross-Media Art Workshop was successfully approved. This is a significant breakthrough for our school in the field of international talent cultivation and international exchange, and a vivid practice and landmark achievement of our school's deep cultivation of Sino-foreign art exchanges, active response to the university's "Internationalization Year" call, and implementation of the "World-Renowned Strategy."

This international workshop brings together the world's top art institutions: the Royal College of Art in the UK is the only full-research art school in the world, and has been ranked first in the QS Art & Design rankings for many consecutive years; Parsons School of Design in the US has consistently ranked among the top three in the world and first in the US in the QS rankings for the past five years, representing the highest level of international art and design education.

The workshop, themed "Jinling·Memory," is rooted in Nanjing's historical and cultural heritage, focusing on collective memory, urban identity, and cross-media expression. The project adopts an integrated "theory-field-creation-exhibition" model, organizing Chinese and international faculty and students to conduct in-depth research at Nanjing's historical landmarks and utilize diverse languages ​​such as digital media, video, installation, and interactive media for artistic creation. To ensure the solid implementation of the project, the School of Arts held a work progress meeting for the YES project on April 8th. Party Secretary Zhao Tianwei, Vice Dean Lu Wenchao, Vice Dean Dong Tiantian, project leader and Director of the Fine Arts Department Zhou Yu, and relevant faculty members attended the meeting. The meeting focused on in-depth discussions of key aspects such as the project implementation plan, division of labor, and progress schedule, clarifying responsibilities and detailing task lists to lay a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the project.

The successful approval of the "Jinling Memory" workshop marks a significant leap for the School of Arts at Southeast University, moving from participating in international exchanges to leading international agendas. At the national level, the project, with "urban memory + cross-media art" at its core, provides a replicable educational path for overseas youth to "understand China," becoming a youthful footnote to promoting Sino-foreign cultural exchanges. At the disciplinary level, substantive cooperation with top institutions such as the Royal College of Art in the UK and Parsons School of Design in the US enhances the international discourse power and leadership of Chinese higher art education. At the cultural level, the project has achieved a profound practice from "cultural display" to "cultural empathy." It is foreseeable that this will become a benchmark project for the art academy's "Internationalization Year," adding a significant chapter to the internationalization of Chinese art education.

It is understood that the YES (Youth Excellence & Synergy) project is a national-level project established by the Ministry of Education in response to the national initiative for exchanges between Chinese and foreign youth. It is coordinated and implemented by the China Education Association for International Exchange, with its core objective of building bridges for cross-cultural exchange, attracting overseas youth to China for exchanges, and deepening cultural exchange.