Sharing importance of arts and culture for emotional guard against COVID-19 with the world

Park Yang-woo, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, presented the role and the importance of arts and culture in the context of COVID-19 in Korea through an online speech at the Special Edition of the Edinburgh International Culture Summit 2020. Special Edition: The Transformational Power of Culture will be held online from 22 (Sat) to 26 (Wed) August as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

The ministerial speech was filmed to introduce responses of the Korean Government and arts and culture sector to the crisis. It aims to deliver a message of hope, that we can defeat the virus through global solidarity with arts and culture. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism previously shared its experiences on containment and support policies in the field of arts and culture, and agreed to work together with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport at the online Ministerial meeting held on 3 June.

Minister Park cited examples of contactless arts and culture activities to curb the spread of the virus such as online performances and exhibitions of the national arts and cultural institutes, as well as ‘Bang Bang Con’ of BTS. He said that “with the advancement of the 4th Industrial Revolution, we will be able to leverage new opportunities for arts and culture even in the face of the global crisis like COVID-19”.

Also, he emphasized that the global community can overcome ‘Corona-blue’ with arts and culture. Just like one of the five rules for individual preventive measures in Korea to ‘keep a safe distance but stay close at heart’, “we remain connected through the shared language of arts and culture” despite the physical distance.

In addition, Minister Park mentioned that “it is especially meaningful to examine opportunities for how arts and culture can be experienced and enjoyed” online through the Summit even amidst the current pandemic. He also stated that the Ministry will continue to cooperate with the international community in various ways to overcome the challenges faced by the arts and culture sector.

The online speech can be viewed on the Summit website www.culturesummit.com from 10am (BST) on Saturday 22 August onwards.