Mapo-gu Hosts Post-Corona 'Hongdae Street Artist Online Competition'

Encouraging Performances and Creative Activities for Street Artists Affected by COVID-19... 20 Teams Compete in Online Finals... Expert Judging and Online Popularity Evaluation

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) is hosting the "1st Hongdae Street Artist Online Competition" for artists in the Hongdae area who have lost performance opportunities due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The Hongdae area is famous as Seoul’s top cultural and artistic incubator space where many street artists usually perform freely and interact with audiences.

However, this year, with the spread of COVID-19, various performances have been canceled and street artists have lost their places to perform, deepening their concerns.

In response, Mapo-gu is holding an online competition to provide performance opportunities to street artists struggling with their artistic activities and to help them continue their creative work locally.

The recruitment fields include genres suitable for street art activities such as music, instrumental music, dance, performance, and visual arts.

Eligibility requires artists aged 18 or older residing in Korea (minors need a guardian’s consent form), who have not visited overseas or domestic COVID-risk areas within two weeks prior to the final round, and who have no symptoms such as fever, cough, or respiratory issues.

The application period is from August 24 to September 13. Based on the submitted performance videos, a first screening will be conducted, and on September 15, 20 finalists will be announced.

The second online final will be held on September 18 at the Seoul Music Creation Center Ma-eum Hall (228 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul) as a no-audience performance.

The finalists will each present their prepared performances on that day, and final rankings will be determined through expert on-site judging (70 points) and online popularity voting (30 points).

The online popularity voting will be conducted from September 19 to 27 by posting the final performance videos on YouTube, SNS, and the Mapo-gu website to evaluate public response.

The winners (1 Grand Prize, 1 Gold Prize, 2 Silver Prizes, 2 Bronze Prizes), to be announced on September 29, will receive local gift certificates and trophies. Depending on the COVID-19 situation, the district plans to hold special performances exclusively for the winners in the future.

Individuals or groups wishing to participate can download the application form from the Mapo-gu website, fill it out, and submit it along with a performance video (link or file under 3 minutes) via email (ssacoop@naver.com) by September 13.

Attention is focused on whether this local government-led untact (contactless) performance culture can newly establish itself by filling the void left by the shrinking street art scene.

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “We hope that cultural artists, whose activities have been greatly restricted by COVID-19, will gain strength through this competition, and that citizens, who have fewer opportunities to enjoy culture, will relieve stress by watching untact performances.”

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