Globally, Seoul has emerging as the origin of the ‘Korean Wave,’ a new cultural phenomenon, and of culture and arts contents.

Given the shift of global exchange paradigm from ‘country-centered’ to ‘city-centered, the SFAC seeks to contribute to raised status of Seoul as a global culture city by means of continued exchanges with diverse city cultures around the world. By expanding its exchange spectrum embracing cultural policy as well as culture and arts contents, the SFAC has led exchanges of urban cultures driving social, cultural and economic development.

Image related to cultural exchange in the city

Year 2017

World Cities Culture Summit Seoul 2017

– Beyond the Creative City : New civic agendas for citizens and by citizens

From 1-3 November 2017, city leaders and cultural experts from 28 World Cities shared experiences and devised responses to a new civic agenda for World Cities. They explored how culture plays its part in addressing the great challenges of the day from inequality, to sustainable growth, to the threat of climate change.
The context for discussion was the ‘Seoul Culture Vision 2030’, a strategic plan for Seoul Metropolitan Government(SMG) centered on citizen engagement and happiness. It sets out a transformative agenda to take Seoul from ‘Culture City’ to ‘Creative-Civic City’. Seoul shared this vision with other World Cities: to showcase early achievements and to learn from others to refine Seoul’s approach. The theme of the summit further explored through three strands, demonstrating how policymakers in World Cities can use culture and creativity:
– Culture meets politics in the public square
– Expressive lives: Does culture really make people happy?
– Back to the Future: Can small scale creative production survive in World Cities?

https://www.wccsseoul2017.com
http://www.worldcitiescultureforum.com/

Asia Cities Culture Forum 2017

– “Revitalization of City by Citizens’ Engagement in Culture”

From 30-31 October 2017, Asia Cities Culture Forum 2017 was launched to provide an opportunity to discuss ways to enhance citizens’ happiness and further expand cultural enjoyment to the public by looking into a variety of community arts and urban revitalization policy led by the city of Seoul and sharing relevant policies of Asia Pacific cities.

Cities’ policymakers and cultural experts from 8 cities; Bangkok, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Sydney, Thua Thien Hue and Tokyo explored several sites of culture-led regeneration projects of Seoul and shared relevant cases of revitalization of city by citizens’ engagement in culture among Asia Pacific cities.

Asia Cities Culture Forum Program Download

Year 2016

Flower, Time of Implication

At <Flower, Time of Implication>, the audience encounters discourse and works of female artists of two cities that have bloomed different cultures in a similar regional and historical context.
As a convergence of contents and formats about Seoul and Beijing, the exhibition symbolizes ‘flower’, a subject containing cultural significance and value, in terms of implicit meaning. Artists of different disciplines including painting, metal, textile, media and installation worked together in a shared space for this exhibition and reinterpreted its themes in visual, conceptual and methodological manner in an attempt to find historical and spatial aspects of the two cities and implications of sustainable urban arts supporting the lives of their citizens.

Images of 'Flower, Time of Implication'

Nov 22-Dec 2, 2016, Seoul Museum of History
Seoul Art Director Hong Gyeong Ah
Seoul Artists Kim Tae Yeon, Shin Ji Seon, Shin Hye Jeong, Oh Hwa Jin, Lee Su Jin, Choi Chan Ju
Beijing Art Director Akgyeolgyeong
Beijing Artists Dam gi, Ma ga wei, Sa cheong, Jang beom, Ju ran, Jin hee

Year 2015

On the Way to Red

After three years’ effort of Seoul and Beijing to promote exchange in arts and culture through a joint committee, an exhibition took place in 2015 for the first time. For the exhibition <On the Way to Red>, seven teams of participating artists explored what people of both countries have in common in their consciousness first and examined its significance and possibilities of interpretation. One of the most interesting ideas occurring in the process was the color ‘red.’ Using red, the theme of the exhibition, the artists expressed via works how citizens of the two countries are ’identical and different’ in consciousness.
The show exhibited artworks of young artists of Korea and China in four disciplines of installation, fashion, painting and media art. The ‘On the way to Red’ exhibition has become a starting point of artistic-cultural-diplomatic exchanges, allowing search for the significance and the directions of ideas of citizen of both countries and possibilities of interpretation.

Images of On the Way to Red

Nov 4-10, 2015, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
Seoul Art Director Yu Jin Sang
Seoul Artists Yeon Ki Baek, Plan B, Rowa Jeong
Beijing Art Director You won poong
Beijing Artists Cha bi, Ga bo bong, Roh o wun, Chong so dang & Lan lan

Year 2014

Under the Same Moon

Seoul and Beijing, both capital of a country and one of the major cities in Asia, are in a very close relationship in terms of history, geography and culture and located in a distance of time and space under the same moon. Historically, Korea and China have had in common Chinese characters and calendar. The former has occupied the spirit of the Orient, and the latter has governed time and space in the region.
‘Under the Same Moon’ is an in-depth interpretation of the moon culture of the two countries in the form of a display of ideas in artistic vision of six leading media artists of Seoul and Beijing. Drawing on common traditional items of the two countries, the artists translated with up-to-date visual image languages the tradition into a new energy.
This exhibition is a lyrical expression of symbolic significance and inspiration of the Oriental culture in history and how the Oriental culture has contributed to the civilization of mankind over the years.

Images of Under the Same Moon

Oct 19-28, 2014, Seoul Citizens Hall City Gallery
Seoul Art Director Yu Jin Sang
Seoul Artists Kim Gwa Hyeonssi, Jeong Ja Young, Hive
Beijing Art Director Ak gyeol gyeong
Beijing Artists Kim il ryong, Eon pum&Oh byeom, Wang uk yang.

Year 2013

Memory in Two Cities: From Gwanghwamun to Tiananmen

The SFAC has continued meaningful exchanges of culture and arts with Beijing since 2013. In the first year of exchange, artists explored and shared ideas on the basis of artistic inspiration obtained from culture tours to both cities and ultimately turned their memories in the two cities to artworks.
Former and current artists in residence at Seoul Art Spaces and artists based in Beijing joined forces to create art works of various disciplines such as painting, photo, video, sculpture and media installation with different aspects of the cities like street scenes and historic sites. Artists from the two cities integrated aesthetic inspirations gained in the cities into their unique artistic expressions, writing a new chapter of arts exchange.

Images of 'Memory in Two Cities: From Gwanghwamun to Tiananmen'

Oct 15 to Nov 2, 2013, Seoul Citizens Hall Gallery
Chief Art Director Kim Rae Hwan
Seoul Artists Kim Young Seob, Noh Eun Ji, Park Hye Su, Shim Hae Jin & Ahn Gyeong Jin
Beijing Artists Dongdaewi, Seokwanwan, Sinunbong, Yanggwangnam & Buhyodong.