By Ines Min
Staff reporter
The annual Gwanghwamoon International Art Festival opened Wednesday for its sixth installment of interactive crafts booths, exhibitions and performances.
The 21-day festival will run through June 29 at the Sejong Performing Arts Center in central Seoul. The theme of this year's fair is "Memories and Healing, Century of Coexistence," in honor of the 60th anniversary since the outbreak of the Korean War.
A special exhibition of artists from the 21 countries who helped fight the war will be shown. Works selected by an arts commissioner and the organizing committee will be featured, from Belgium, Colombia, Ethiopia, Thailand, Italy, South Africa and more. Booths will also provide an opportunity for artists in attendance to directly explain their works to observers.
The main art exhibition will take place at the center's main building and will showcase 160 local artists as well as 63 artists from abroad. Names include German photographer Louisa Marie Summer, Australian graphic designer Mimmo Cozzolino, Indian artist Kalicharan Gupta, and artist Wolf Adam Bottinelli. Domestic artists such as Kim Jung-soo, Park Sun-hee and others will represent Korea.
Activity booths will be open to all ages, with craftwork such as pottery, quilting and other coloring events scheduled to take place.
On June 12, a separate children's art festival and competition will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Participants will draw their interpretation of their love for Seoul and Gwanghwamun, with winners announced on June 22. The top pieces will be exhibited from June 23 to 29.
The international fair is sponsored by the city of Seoul, the ministry of culture, sports and tourism, ministry of foreign affairs and trade, ministry of education, science and technology, Korean Fine Arts Association, Seoul Fine Arts Association, KOBACO and KBS.
For more information, visit www.giaf.co.kr.