CEO Song Hyeongjong "Expanding International Cultural and Artistic Exchange and Organizing Basic Arts Festivals"

"We will increase international cultural and artistic exchanges and organize an integrated festival for the basic arts sector this fall."

Song Hyung-jong, CEO of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, announced this plan at a media meeting held on the 23rd at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. CEO Song, who previously served as Seoul City's Cultural Chief, took office as CEO of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture on the 1st of this month. He stated that from a long-term perspective, he is reviewing the foundation's operational direction in collaboration with various private art organizations and will soon reveal concrete plans.

Song Hyeong-jong, CEO of Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture

On the same day, the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture unveiled its new management vision along with the main operational directions for 2025. The foundation presented a new slogan, "Revolutionizing everyday life through culture and arts, making the extraordinary a daily reality in the arts city Seoul," and announced plans to carry out projects aimed at advancing Seoul as one of the world's top five global cultural cities together with artists and citizens active in Seoul.

In line with its policy to revitalize international cultural and artistic exchanges, the foundation plans to promote overseas tours of outstanding works that will lead the "next Hallyu" centered on basic arts. Primarily, it will support the distribution of excellent works selected through the 'Seoul Arts Award' to help them enter the international stage. Additionally, a new 'Seoul International Arts Forum' will be established to bring together domestic and international artists and scholars to derive future art agendas.

In March, the Seoul Theater Creation Center will officially open in Seongbuk-gu, serving as a creative hub for professional theater artists. The center will operate two theaters?a black box and a proscenium theater?along with rehearsal rooms and offices for administrative work, supporting the groundwork for staging from the initial production stages to showcases. Together with the Daehangno Theater Quad and the Seoul Theater Center, the Seoul Theater Creation Center is expected to play a key role in the Daehangno performing arts cluster by organically connecting creation, production, incubation, exchange, and distribution of performing arts.

The foundation will also launch a performance and exhibition information portal in June to promote works selected through its 'Art Creation Support Project.' This portal will provide information on outstanding works in the basic arts field, which has been somewhat difficult to find until now. It will offer expert reviews and citizen audience evaluations for each work in an easily accessible format, improving public accessibility and broadening the range of choices for audiences.

Spanish art group Puha performing at the Seoul Street Arts Festival
Photo by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture

In June, the 'Seoul Culture and Arts Education Center Eunpyeong' is also scheduled to open. With the opening of this center, the establishment of cultural and arts education hubs in five regions (Yangcheon, Yongsan, Gangbuk, Seocho, Eunpyeong) will be completed and fully operational. These five regional centers will operate with the foundation’s integrated cultural and arts education brand, 'Seoul Citizen Arts School,' aiming for 100,000 annual visits and participation by more than 10,000 citizens.

Moreover, leveraging the festival management know-how accumulated over the past 20 years, the foundation plans to newly host 'Art Seoul Festa (tentative name),' a new festival encompassing the 'Basic Performing Arts Festival' this fall.

CEO Song Hyung-jong emphasized, "The newly starting foundation must further strengthen its solid foundation that allows artists to create freely," adding, "By firmly reorganizing the basic arts support system, please watch the foundation’s efforts to enhance Seoul’s competitiveness as a cradle of artistic creation for artists and as a leading global cultural and arts city."

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