New Leader Seeks to Upgrade Sejong Center
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
The Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, one of Korea's foremost arts and cultural complex, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and also welcomes a new president. Lee Chung-sung, 63, a former CEO who majored in studio art, vowed to ``upgrade'' the center in tune with Seoul City's urban design project.
``We are living in a time where culture plays a powerful role,'' said Lee, explaining how cultural enterprises reflect a people's mindset and a country's values. Thus the Center must become globally competitive. ``We hope to foster a second renaissance for Korea,'' he said.
A former board member of the International Design School for Advanced Studies in Seoul and currently the chairman of the board of Hyunwoo Art College in Beijing, Lee is also the ex-CEO of cosmetics company POLA.
While admitting that he isn't an expert on the performing arts, he learned through his experience in art and design that, for design as a field to advance, it is important to foster a new mindset rather than just produce designers. In this respect, he hopes to expand the newly launched and popular art lecture program to establish an arts academy for future opinion leaders in the cultural arena.
The academy is in line with the three major directions he envisions for the Sejong Center. The first is to remain true to the founding principals of the establishment, to provide cultural services to citizens. The arts complex, established in 1978 under the commission of Seoul City, houses theaters and exhibition spaces. Last year alone it hosted some 1,400 live performances including those by the Sejong Center's own troupes such as the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and Seoul Metropolitan Opera Group.
The Center will undergo physical changes to better meet visitors' needs, from revamping parking spaces to providing more restrooms for ladies. ``These are based on observations I made and inconveniences I felt as a visitor. While they are small things, they greatly affect the overall experience of someone going to a concert,'' said Lee.
The underground parking space will be transformed into a cultural complex. The Gwannghwamun Plaza, to be completed by June 2009 in front of the Center, will become a stage for various performances.
The lobby of the Grand Theater will get a facelift as well. The underground roadway, to be blocked under Seoul City's 2010 World Design City plan, will become an exhibition hall or art shop complex.
The second plan is to provide more premier performances and exhibitions. While the Sejong Center's art troupes were downsized to about 65 percent in recent years, five of its nine groups hired 23 new members last May. ``The balance between downsizing and recruiting new talent is important,'' he said.
Last month, the Philadelphia Orchestra gave concerts for the first time in 30 years, ever since inaugurating the center's opening in 1978. The center hopes to provide more quality performances like the upcoming shows by the American Ballet Theater, said Kang Young-bae, the artistic programming director. He also mentioned making more use of the Center's 45-ton pipe organ, the largest in Asia.
The new president expressed his wish to develop the Sejong Center into one of Asia's and the world's prominent cultural centers. Thus, the Center's third initiative is to strengthen its image and brand power by providing education programs and top-notch performances as well as revamping its facilities to become a true cultural landmark and tourist attraction in Seoul.