Arts Council Korea (ARKO) Chair Choung Byoung Gug on May 14 explains plans for ARKO Global Week to a news conference at ARKO House in Seoul's Jongno-gu District.

By Lee Dasom

Photos = Arts Council Korea

Seoul's hosting of the 10th World Summit on Arts & Culture -- the first time the event will be hosted by an Asian country -- will begin on May 27.

The Arts Council Korea (ARKO) on May 14 announced its hosting of ARKO Global Week from May 24-30. The summit will run from May 27-30 in the Daehangno area of Seoul's Jongno-gu District, with leading international figures in culture and arts expected to attend.

Jointly hosted by ARKO and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies, the four-day summit is seen to attract 400 experts on culture and arts from about 80 countries including the heads of art councils and culture and arts institutions, policy experts, artists, researchers and government officials in charge of related policy.

Under the theme "Charting the Future of Arts and Culture," participants will discuss strategies in culture and arts to respond to the era of complex crises such as artificial intelligence, spread of digital technology, climate crisis and recovery of regional communities.

Apart from ARKO Global Week, ARKO will host Ape Camp, an exhibition and global forum to mark the 30th anniversary of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, run the ARKO Art Studio Program for residency and boost partnerships with organizations abroad to create a turning point in international exchange projects.

The camp, which supports the launch of a convergence collaboration network among younger artists and tech developers worldwide, is slated from May 25-27 at the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions and events) complex COEX Magok in Seoul's Gangseo-gu District.

On May 24, the day before the main event, an international conference at Grand Theater of Daehakro Arts Theater will discuss exemplary cases in convergence collaboration creation.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the exhibition "Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion" from May 10 to Nov. 23 at Giardini Park in Venice, Italy, will display the past, present and future of the pavilion.

"ARKO will actively respond to form a sustainable art ecosystem in Korea and lay a policy foundation for domestic arts to establish themselves in the world," ARKO Chair Choung Byoung Gug said. "We will go beyond domestic and international borders to expand cooperation with more organizations so that anyone can experience and appreciate Korean arts."

Official promotional poster for 10th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Seoul