These will offer the framework for artists from around the world to share and explore their common visions reflecting on each of their practices, and foster enriched discussions regarding ways to challenge, collaborate and interact.
In addition, arts and cultural education in Korea will be showcased, demonstrating a rare opportunity to explore local culture and values on the international stage.
Different from the previous years, ITAC5 2020 will be held as a digital conference.
COVID-19 has brought about a contactless society led by widespread social distancing and isolation. This has also had critical repercussions on the cultural and art scene. Artists from different regions of the world have been making efforts to carry on their practices and ITAC5 is also transforming itself into a different format, in order to ensure safety while upholding the values it has been standing for. The digital conference will allow an opportunity to raise voices not just as mere individuals but as a collective, challenging the borders of time and space and expanding the opportunities for participation. Instead of the conventional speaker-audience relationship of an in-person gathering, online interaction will encourage a more democratic exchange based on real time and instant communication. Artistic practices in ITAC will become models of innovative countermeasures to COVID-19 which could also offer a glimpse to the future. For more information, visit

- ITAC Collaborative: https://www.itac-collaborative.com/
- ITAC5: http://www.itac5.org/
 

This year marked the ninth annual International Arts Education Week, which is an opportunity for the international community to review the current situation of arts and culture education and explore possibilities for further development. Held annually during the fourth week of May, this event includes a series of various arts and culture education programs prepared by participating nations and open to anyone who wishes to attend. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 International Arts Education Week, which serves as a platform for stakeholders and experts to share and discuss their ideas, was held in the form of an online open panel discussion.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts and Culture Education Services from May 25th to the 29th. The International Arts Education Week was first introduced at the UNESCO General Assembly in November 2011 as part of the Seoul Agenda: Development Goals for Arts Education, and was subsequently implemented upon the unanimous vote of the participating members. This year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 International Arts Education Week addressed the changes, tasks at hand, and general overview of arts and culture education with the new norm of “untact” society.
 

Open Discussion: Online Arts and Culture Education Issues and Policies

This year’s event was conducted through two sessions of live open panel discussions held online. The first of these two sessions were held on May 27th and addressed issues surrounding online education in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the topic of “Policy proposals and the state of affairs of online arts and culture education”, participants discussed various case studies in the areas of media, visual arts, and performance arts and explored plans to establish and promote an online arts and culture education ecosystem for the future. Open questions were welcomed through real time posts online.

On May 29th, the second session of live open panel discussions was held under the topic of “A special talk on the transition of arts and culture education.”  Since last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service (KACES) have operated a council promoting the publicization of arts and culture education. This council is a private-public consultative body of 30 individuals, including 22 external experts in academia and the field of arts and culture education and eight stakeholders from MCST and KACES. The council prepared an action plan for the issues surrounding each respective subdivision of arts and culture education and is working towards reflecting appropriate changes in the form of relevant policies. During this open panel discussion, the heads of each subdivision within the council shared their thoughts and opinions regarding the concept of arts and culture education, directions to be taken in the post COVID-19 era, arts and culture education in schools and creativity, the establishment of regional and locally-driven arts and culture education ecosystems and etc. This session also included open questions that were accepted through online posts.

KACES stated that this is an important turning point for arts and culture education, which until now was conducted in a face-to-face setting. It added that, during International Arts Education Week, it hoped to publicly address the values and significance of arts and culture education within the context of society’s rapidly changing circumstances and take the initiative in implementing a response.
 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism(MCST)is now providing arts and culture education content in collaboration with the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service (KACES) in order to accommodate online access to arts courses (music, fine arts, traditional dance, theater) as elementary, middle, and high schools around the country begin implementing online coursework in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The arts and culture education content will be provided through the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education to elementary, middle, and high schools around the country. There are a total of 234 different resources selected from MCST’s online culture portal “Appreciating Culture at Home”, including 99 resources for music, 116 resources for fine arts, 12 resources for traditional dance and physical education, and seven resources for theater and language studies. These particular resources for arts and culture education in schools were reviewed and selected by the advisory council for remote classrooms*.
*Ten members, including four elementary school teachers, four middle and high school arts teachers, and two school vice-commissioners from the office of education (one elementary school arts representative and one middle school arts representative)
 

Arts and Culture Online: Live Recordings and VR Exhibitions

Now, students can partake in arts and culture experiences at home through online classes by accessing live recordings, VR exhibitions, and other specialized resources provided by 10 national and MCST-affiliated arts institutions*.
* KACES,  National Museum of Korea, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, The National Folk Museum of Korea, National Gugak Center, National Theater Company of Korea, Korea Culture Information Service Agency, Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Performing Arts Companyand etc.

In order to facilitate prompt implementation of these resources by educators, MCST and KACES have provided basic manuals and user guidelines. The manuals outline detailed information for each resource, including target audience (elementary, middle, high school), subject [music, fine arts, traditional dance (physical education), theater (language studies)], activity category (experience, expression, appreciation, etc.), program name, program type (hands-on experience, live recording, interview, documentary, image, virtual reality, etc.), resource length, main contents, keywords (hashtags), download availability, development institution, and online address.

Furthermore, there are plans underway to link these resources directly to the e-learning cyber learning system and EBS online classes so that they can be accessed and used during classes accordingly. Usage agreements have been completed with the respective organizations to ensure that no copyright issues arise through the use of these resources.

A representative from KACES stated that, considering the majority of pre-existing educational resources are for Korean, English, and mathematics courses, teachers of arts subjects are most likely facing some difficulties in preparing for their online classes. The representative continued on to say that KACES hopes the arts and culture education resources they are working to provide help in designing interesting, quality classes when combined with the educational ideas of arts and culture education educators.