Artists, activists to promote peace in Cheongju
Participants listen to a speech during the 2016 Korea Culture Designer Awards at Seoul Station, central Seoul, in December, 2016. / Courtesy of World Culture Open
By You Soo-sun
An international event will bring 500 cultural activists to Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Friday.
Under the theme “Designing a Culture of Empathy, Culture of Peace,” artists, experts and activists representing 50 countries including the U.S., Yemen, Japan, Rwanda and France will gather for the three-day event, Better Together 2017.
The event is being run by World Culture Open (WCO), an international network of global activists, and is funded by North Chungcheong Province and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Since 1999, WCO has initiated numerous projects with the aim of bringing the world closer together.
The network has invited over 500 people from various fields including the arts, humanities, science, education and environment to share how they have utilized their talents to improve the global community.
According to WCO, the guests have been chosen as they have proven to have looked beyond the existing social stereotypes and paid attention to their surroundings, thereby facilitating meaningful changes.
“The act of listening to and empathizing with one another could pave the way for achieving happiness in the 21st century,” its representative said through a press release. “We hope this international cultural event will serve as a platform in which people can empathize and interact while overcoming barriers of language, race, region and professions.”
At the event, participants may expect to get a taste of Cheongju’s regional cuisine as well as performances of artists from the region prepared in collaboration with international artists.
Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss world problems with eight renowned figures, including director Emmanuel Benbihy, who launched the Cities of Love franchise including “Paris, je t'aime” and “New York, I Love You,” as well as Ping Ping Worakate, founder of the World Peace Initiative Foundation in Thailand, and Jean-Paul Samputu, a humanitarian musician from Rwanda.
Benbihy will talk about creating a healthy urban community via the media while Ping Ping Worakate will explain why meditation is important in the digital world.
Jean-Paul Samputu, a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda and one of Africa’s most prominent artists, will deliver a speech on the topic of “I see myself in the person I cannot forgive.”
The program includes over 100 events including concerts, lectures, exhibitions, workshops and discussions.