South Korea opened its 15th UNESCO Culture and Arts Education Week on Tuesday, kicking off two weeks of forums, concerts, workshops and one ambitious international symposium on what arts education actually does.
The observance, running through May 31, is organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service. Korea proposed the international observance in November 2011, and the UNESCO General Conference declared the fourth week of May as the annual Culture and Arts Education Week.
This year's edition opens Tuesday with a forum at KACES that delves into the role of arts education today. For two decades, the field has been pressed into service for policy goals — building creativity, integrating society, creating jobs — and organizers want to revisit what its intrinsic value is now.
Wednesday brings two contrasting events. At the Seoul Museum of Craft, Korean and overseas officials will share results from arts education programs Korea has funded abroad. Across town, a three-day camp for teenagers grappling with digital over-immersion gets underway, blending arts and humanities-based reflection.
Thursday is the week's main draw: an international symposium at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, on measuring the effects of arts education.
Anne Bamford of the University of Sydney, Susanne Keuchel of Germany's Genshagen Foundation and Kim Ju-ri of KACES will open the discussion on global measurement standards. Kim Boong-nyun, a child psychiatrist at Seoul National University, will then present brain-based research; Daniel Bowen of Texas A&M will discuss causal academic and social effects; and Valeria Pica of Italy's G. d'Annunzio University will explain how to put an economic value on arts education.
Friday turns to practitioners, with an expert lecture for educators who work with children and teens.
The weekend welcomes general audiences. Cultural Diversity Week events at the National Museum of Korea on May 23 and 24 feature multicultural youth performances. A dance workshop for children at the National Museum of World Writing Systems in Incheon follows on Sunday, billed as "With Your Whole Body, Yap! Yap! Yap!"
Throughout the two weeks, Dream Orchestra concerts, open classes at after-school arts academies and exhibitions at regional arts education centers are scheduled across the country.
"This year's UNESCO Culture and Arts Education Week is a meaningful chance to take stock of where Korean arts education stands," Jeong Hyang-mi, director general of culture and arts policy at the ministry, said in a statement on Tuesday.
gypark@heraldcorp.com
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