'Seoul-si-Munchebu Public Art Project' Selects 25 Works... 9 Non-selected Sites Reopened for Applications

Project to Revitalize the Art World Stagnated by COVID-19
Reapplication for 9 Unselected Sites Targeting 1,500 Budget Passers

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 9th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it has selected the final works for the ‘Seoul City-Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Public Art Project’ to revitalize the art scene, which has been stagnant due to COVID-19, and to expand cultural enjoyment opportunities for citizens, and will begin full-scale implementation.

The Seoul City-Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Public Art Project is a linked initiative with the ‘Seoul Public Art Project,’ which last year invested 3 billion KRW of city funds to support artists whose activities were reduced and livelihoods became difficult due to COVID-19. It received proposals from 1,500 artists and paid rewards to outstanding proposers. For the final selected works, 10 billion KRW of national and city funds will be invested to provide opportunities to realize artworks at target sites in each autonomous district.

Looking at the types of selected works, a wide range of categories including painting, sculpture, installation art, as well as architectural landscaping and design were included. The project moved away from public art centered on existing sculptures and increased the proportion of citizen participation programs. Additionally, the creative backgrounds and majors of participating artists were diverse, and among the 25 artists finally selected, five were in their 20s and 30s, indicating an influx of artists with little prior public art participation experience.

The 25 selected artist teams will engage in detailed consultations with the autonomous districts regarding project directions, receive budgets ranging from 100 million to 400 million KRW depending on project scale, form artist teams, and implement the works during the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, the city will conduct a re-competition for nine target sites where works have not yet been selected, targeting the 1,500 preliminary passers of the ‘Seoul Public Art Project.’

The re-competition application period runs until the 2nd of next month, and according to Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism guidelines, the final selected participants must be in a state of non-enrollment in employment insurance and participate in the project as a team. Submission of work plans will be conducted through the competition website (http://seoul25.kr), and inquiries related to the competition can be made via the website or the operating office. The final works from the re-competition will be selected in March after citizen and expert evaluations and approval by the Seoul Public Art Committee.

Lee Hye-young, Director of the Design Policy Division, said, “The Seoul City-Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Public Art Project started as a support project for artists whose creative activities were hindered by COVID-19, but ultimately aims to promote art projects that enhance the cultural value of public art,” and added, “We hope for much interest so that excellent and innovative works can be selected in this competition.”

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