Artists, Educators, and the Public Come Together to Discuss Culture and Arts Education in Times of Crisis
For International Arts Education Week this past May, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service held a number of to examine the role of culture and arts education in times of crisis. In the midst of the global pandemic, these programs sought to unearth new possibilities in arts education and expand awareness of its value.
How Can Arts Education Help Resolve Today’s Challenges?
The second day of the symposium began with the first plenary session, “Diversity in Arts Education 2.0” by Ernst Wagner, Senior Researcher at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, after which came sessions on Arts for Healing, Social & Cultural Inclusiveness, and the Seoul Agenda. The third day opened with the second plenary session, “‘Cultural Resilience’ and ‘Aesthetic Resilience’ as a Task of Arts Education?” by Benjamin Jörissen, chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in Arts and Culture in Education at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, which was followed by discussions on Arts in the Classroom, Arts Engagement, and Diversity & Cultural Representation.
When reflecting on the symposium, attendees said that it was a good opportunity for considering arts education in different ways after the COVID-19 outbreak. Many also mentioned that it was refreshing to connect culture and arts education to climate change, and that after months of isolation, the event helped them realize that a large number of people are in fact helping each other and working to raise the inclusiveness of society through the arts.
Seven artists from various fields, including visual, electronic music, dance, and media art, created and shared their work through online activities. As a whole, Art Project recognized the unavoidable fact that humans who are vulnerable to invisible viruses must now seek ways to achieve symbiosis with animals, plants, objects, and beyond, and to think beyond a human-centric mindset. Under the theme of interaction as a sense and the process of recognizing the impact of individuals’ actions on each other, the various Art Project workshops revisited and explored the many ways in which our daily lives have been forever changed.
Choreographer Hur Yun-kyung’s had participants observe and imitate each other’s movements when they were unable to physically reach each other in this COVID-19 era. One participant said, “As we moved along to the voice of the choreographer from behind the screen, we found a new way to reach each other at a time when we could not have physical contact.”
Media artist Song Ho-jun imagined a new lifestyle based on the premise of leaving the land through Out to the sea but occupying a very limited space — a yacht — he shared fresh ideas on the environment, residential form, and the economy of human beings living on the land.
Paper Company Urban’s was inspired by the fact that more and more people started to keep pet plants at their homes due to the COVID-19 lockdown, but ironically, many plants died at home as well. 70 participants gathered online to share new views on pet plants and to paint dying plants.
Pop-up Engineer Kepler49 collected about 60 paintings of animals and insects, containing participants’ imaginations and stories. She produced a pop-up book called which took the shape of a globe, and shared it through videos and photos.
View the Art Project workshops and check out stories from behind the scenes at through December 21, 2021.
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