Jeong Byeong-guk, Chairman of the Arts Council, Visits Europe to Attend IFACCA Meeting and Venice Biennale

Discussion on Exchange and Cooperation Plans with Overseas Cultural Institutions

Jung Byung-guk, Chairman of the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service (hereinafter Arts Council Korea), will embark on a trip to Europe from April 29 to May 20 to strengthen overseas partnerships, benchmark cases of industrial heritage utilization, and attend the opening of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition.

Jung Byung-guk, Chairman of the Korea Arts Council [Photo by Korea Arts Council]

The IFACCA (International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies) meeting, which Chairman Jung will attend, will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, from Monday, May 1 to Tuesday, May 2. IFACCA is an organization established to promote exchange and development between artists and arts support agencies worldwide. Chairman Jung will participate in the high-level leadership seminar and the Asia regional chapter meeting to strengthen networks among major arts support organizations and explore future cooperation plans.

Chairman Jung will first attend the 9th World Summit on Arts and Culture, held this year for the ninth time. Under the theme "Safeguarding Artistic Freedom," the summit, taking place from May 3 to 5, will seek joint responses to the vulnerabilities of the cultural and artistic ecosystem revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Scholars, policymakers, and researchers from the global arts and culture sector will gather to share diverse perspectives aimed at creating a free and stable creative environment for artists.

From May 6 to 13, to benchmark excellent cases of industrial heritage utilization in Europe, visits and meetings will be conducted at Doln? V?tkovice in Ostrava, Czech Republic; the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in the Ruhr industrial region, Germany; the Oberhausen Gasometer; and the Duisburg Environmental Park.

Through this field visit, Arts Council Korea plans to analyze various cases of industrial heritage utilization and apply the insights to ensure that the Danginri Cultural Space, scheduled to open in 2025, becomes a world-class landmark connecting the past and the future.

From May 14 to 16, Chairman Jung will visit the European Commission (EC) in Brussels, Belgium, to hold business consultations aimed at building partnerships for Arts Council Korea, including promoting art and technology convergence and mutual cooperation projects. Additionally, plans include exploring cooperation measures through visits and meetings at KANAL - Centre Pompidou, a museum opening soon after remodeling the Citro?n automobile factory near the Charleroi Canal in Brussels; Wiels Art Center, a converted brewery building; and the Korean Cultural Center in Belgium.

Following this, from May 17, Chairman Jung will attend the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, presiding over the opening ceremony and banquet of the Korean Pavilion exhibition. Through meetings with Venice Biennale officials and key figures in the architecture field, he plans to grasp global trends in contemporary architecture and review various matters to strengthen the competitiveness and effective operation of the Korean Pavilion.

This year’s Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion exhibition will feature the first-ever co-artistic director system, with directors Park Kyung and Jung So-ik presenting under the theme "2086: Together How?" posing questions about the environmental crisis.

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