Many performance companies and new media companies in China have put their shows and movies online and offered pay TV programs to subscribers across the country for free as the country continues to fight the novel coronavirus epidemic, which broke out in late December 2019.

Li Lei’s painting “Every Second Counts”, which features construction workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital construction site. (Photo/People's Daily)

Artists in the country have also used their talents to express support for and gratitude to medical workers and people who have been fighting the epidemic on the front line of the nationwide battle through various art works on new media platforms.

During this year’s Spring Festival holiday, which started on Jan. 24, China’s National Centre for the Performance Arts launched a series of feature programs via online platforms, including its official accounts on social media platforms like WeChat and Sina Weibo, offering the public art works for free.

Many cultural products, such as the highly anticipated movie Lost in Russia and cross talk shows by performance groups in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, which had been scheduled to hit cinemas and theaters during this year’s Spring Festival, were made available to enjoy online for free on people’s mobile devices.

In Shanghai, cable TV operator OCN has decided to offer subscribers pay programs on at least 10 channels for free from Jan. 27 to Feb. 8. Meanwhile, BesTV, a leading new media-based IPTV service provider in China, provided many widely acclaimed films and TV programs for hundreds of millions of domestic consumers across the country for free.

New media platforms have become stages for artists to convey their gratitude to medical workers and promote positive energy in China’s efforts to combat the current epidemic.

On the evening of Jan. 29, the studio of Li Lei, a painter in Shanghai, posted his latest work composed of five sketches and abstract paintings on WeChat.

A cartoon “Fight the Epidemic” showcased in the online cartoon exhibition held by the artists’ association of Liaoning. (Photo/People's Daily)

The pictures vividly depicted scenes of doctors and nurses putting on gloves before treating patients and construction workers hard at work at the construction sites of Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital, makeshift hospitals built for treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus in Wuhan.

Many other literary figures and artists like Li Lei have also put their works on WeChat as a tribute to medical workers and soldiers fighting for the country on the front line of the battle.

Artist associations in northeast China’s Liaoning Province recently held an online exhibition of cartoons, which included a drawing by a 3-year-old child of a mother wearing a mask, as well as a work by Li Chun, an 88-year-old cartoonist who painted a picture titled “All the People Fight Together Again.”

On Jan. 28, Shanghai Media Group started shooting on a music video to boost the nation’s courage in its battle against the epidemic. Named “Hand in Hand”, the video was the result of collaboration between over 20 artists. Since Chinese people have had to stay at home to avoid infection, these artists all had their respective parts recorded separately in their own homes.

By showing several scenes of people sticking to their posts for the battle, such as sanitation workers, delivery men, workers in mask factories, public transport drivers, and police, the music video expresses thanks to those who have contributed to the country’s efforts to fight the epidemic, said Zhang Songhua, deputy director of Dragon TV, a channel of Shanghai Media Group.