Geumcheon-gu Doksan-dong Cultural Arts Road Regional Transformation

‘Our Village Cultural Tong(Jang)’, ‘Binjip Project’, Mobile Performance ‘Doksan Yeoreobun’ Promoted... Resident Participation Cultural Arts Programs Including Performances, Exhibitions, and Cultural Arts Education Workshops from August to December

In July, a resident participation workshop titled "Jigeujae Sewing Club - Where the Needle Goes, the Thread Follows" was held at a sewing workshop located in Doksan-dong.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] The Geumcheon Cultural Foundation (CEO Lee Yong-jin) is actively carrying out a ‘regional specialized culture and arts project’ to transform Doksan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, which was a culturally and artistically marginalized area, into a center of local culture and arts.

Since its launch in 2017, the Geumcheon Cultural Foundation has been considering how to address the unique characteristics and various social issues of the Doksan-dong area through art.

The foundation is making efforts to revitalize the culture and arts of Doksan-dong by carrying out various cultural and artistic projects in the area, such as the regional cultural promotion project ‘Our Village Culture Tong(通)jang’, the cultural urban regeneration project ‘Empty House Project’, and the autonomous district regional culture and arts content specialization project ‘Doksan Yeoreobun’ (mobile performances).

Community-driven regional cultural project ‘Our Village Culture Tong(通)jang’

Through the community-driven regional cultural project ‘Our Village Culture Tong(通)jang’, the foundation plans various projects to expand the base of residents’ everyday culture.

As part of ‘Our Village Culture Tong(通)jang’, from July to September every Thursday, sewing artisans work together with local residents on creative activities and share their life stories in the resident participation workshop ‘Zigzag Sewing Club - Where the Needle Goes, the Thread Follows’.

Following this, from September, the ‘Saturday Our Village Repair Room - Saturday Sewing Room’, and from October to November, a parade created together by ‘Doksan-dong Sewing Artisans × Local Artists’ are scheduled as regional art projects involving local residents.

In particular, this year, based on three empty houses from the Doksan-dong Empty House Project, an environment is being created where residents can naturally experience and participate in art anytime in the space.

Cultural urban regeneration project ‘Empty House Project’

The foundation is promoting the cultural urban regeneration project ‘Empty House Project’, transforming vacant houses in the Doksan-dong area into cultural and artistic platforms with artists, breathing cultural life into the region.

This year, in connection with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s ‘Culture Day’ project, the project will be carried out under the theme of Art-Therapy-School (Art + Therapy + School).

From August to November, planned exhibitions and art healing and education projects will be held monthly, each focusing on a different sense (smell, hearing, touch, synesthesia, etc.).

Especially, on the last Wednesday of each month during the ‘Culture Day’ week, small-scale performances of various genres such as Korean traditional music and classical music will be held at one or two houses of the Empty House Project.

‘Doksan Yeoreobun’ - Mobile performances based on local stories

Selected for the Seoul Metropolitan Autonomous District Cultural Foundation Federation’s ‘Autonomous District Regional Culture and Arts Content Specialization Project’, ‘Doksan Yeoreobun’ is a mobile performance where about 40 Doksan-dong residents and professional actors unite to embody the stories of Doksan-dong in the performance.

The performance will be held four times on September 12 and 13, where audiences wear headphones and walk around various spots in Doksan-dong to experience the diverse stories of the area through the performance.

Additionally, from August 10 to 18, an advanced workshop on the theme of Doksan-dong will be held as part of the ‘2020 Street Arts NEXT Project’. The ‘2020 Street Arts NEXT Project’ is a cultural and artistic project promoted by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture’s Seoul Street Arts Creation Center to discover promising domestic street artists and provide opportunities to enhance their creative capabilities.

Last July, the vacant house project "Fragments of Summer: The Pen of Five Senses" was held.

This year’s ‘Street Arts NEXT’ will share the working methods of the group ‘Elephants Laugh’ (directed by Lee Jin-yeop), which produces ‘Doksan Yeoreobun’. Participating artists will explore Doksan-dong, discover its artistic value, and express it through art.

CEO Lee Yong-jin of the foundation said, “Doksan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, holds the history of being the foundation for Korea’s industrial growth, and its history is a special and precious culture unique to Geumcheon-gu. We will do our best to ensure that art can bloom fully in Doksan-dong with the interest and participation of residents.”

For more details, please check the Geumcheon Cultural Foundation website or the foundation’s SNS (Instagram, Facebook, Naver Band), or contact the Geumcheon-gu Office Cultural Affairs Team for guidance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.