Culture fest to promote ’Lincoln Center of Gwangju’

Asian Culture Complex to open in 2014

By Do Je-hae

When a controversial project to build a major arts complex in the southwestern city of Gwangju was announced in 2007, many were skeptical of its purpose and profitability.

As the Asian Culture Complex nears its completion in 2014, officials are stepping up promotional activities for what they call the “Lincoln Center of Gwangju.”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Tuesday that it will hold the first “Asian Culture Week Festival” in the city of 1.4 million from Aug. 22 to 28.

The culture week will reflect the diverse cultural legacies of Asian countries through various events, including the Asia Youth Culture Festival, Asian Children Choir, Asia Culture Forum and an open lecture under the theme “Understanding Asian Culture.” Organizers held a pre-concert for the festival on July 2.

The festival is a promotional tool for the Asian Culture Complex, which officials hope will turn Gwangju into a cultural hub of Asia.

“When completed, the Asian Culture Complex in Gwangju is expected to be more multi-functional than the Lincoln Center in New York or the Pompidou Center in Paris,”said Lee Byung-hoon, assistant minister at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism during a press conference in Seoul.

Lee has been leading what has become one of the most important projects for the ministry since the project’s inception. The ministry held a conference on the promotion of the complex in March, hosted by Culture Minister Chung Byoung-gug.

“We are working under the conviction that the complex will further enhance Korea’s image as a nation of culture,” Lee said.

The official explained that the complex will include galleries, concert halls, a library and a culture institute for children.

“It will serve as a primary platform for Asian countries to collaborate in the arts,” Lee added.

In addition, the cultural week will provide an opportunity for Asians to understand each other’s cultures more deeply.

The Asian Youth Culture Festival is composed of four programs: the Asia Youth Forum, the Asia Youth Culture Fair, Open Talk with the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Performance for Celebrating the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011.

The Asian Youth Culture Festival will feature music, fine art, dance, literature, and image art through the participation of young artists from 26 Asian nations.

The Gwangju World Music Festival will present an opportunity to experience different kinds of world music that are unknown here. The Gwangju World Music Festival made its debut in 2010 and drew an enthusiastic response from the audience.

The festival will present the very essence of world music on various stages such as Chomdan Ssangam Park, Geumnam-ro Park, the Bitgoeul Civic Culture Center and Kunsthalle Gwangju from Aug. 26 to 28. The festival lined up 41 groups from 21 countries, including “gayageum” master Hwang Byung-gi.

As part of the open lecture series, Park Ki-tae, president of VANK, will give a lecture titled “Shout for Korea Toward the World” on Aug. 26.

The participation and interest of citizens is the key factor to making the complex a success.

There will be an “interview with 100 citizens” segment during the festival, to gather expectations that 100 Gwangju citizens have about Asian Culture Week and the Asia Youth Culture Festival.

Re-inventing mid-sized cities

Since 2004, the culture ministry and the city of Gwangju have been working together for the Asian Culture Complex, one of the largest cultural projects in the country’s history.

The complex had been a campaign pledge of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun during the 2002 presidential election.

It is an important agenda of Gwangju Mayor Kang Un-tae, who has often urged more interest from other parts of the country in the cultural project.

The project is part of a cultural policy of re-inventing several mid-sized cities such as Gwangju, Gyeongju and Jeonju as “international cultural cities.”