Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Chongkundang, and Mecenat Association Sign Cultural Arts Social Contribution Business Agreement

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Chong Kun Dang Holdings, and the Korea Mecenat Association signed a business agreement on the 14th at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts with representatives from the three organizations in attendance to promote cultural and artistic social contribution projects.

Through this agreement, the three parties agreed to pool their efforts into various cultural and artistic projects to revitalize the cultural and artistic sector, which has been stagnant due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and to comfort exhausted citizens. As a starting point, they will co-host the 7th Chong Kun Dang Art Ground exhibition. Chong Kun Dang Art Ground is a representative cultural and artistic social contribution project by Chong Kun Dang Holdings that supports the growth of emerging artists, having supported a total of 27 artists since 2012. The '7th Chong Kun Dang Art Ground Special Exhibition' will be co-hosted with Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and is scheduled to be held at the Sejong Center Art Gallery from the 24th to October 6th. This special exhibition will showcase works by three artists?Kim Chang-young, Seo Min-jung, and Seo Won-mi?who were selected as Chong Kun Dang Art Ground artists in 2018.

In November, Chong Kun Dang's 'Opera Hope Story' will be presented as part of Sejong Center's representative social contribution program, the Onshimpyo program. 'Opera Hope Story' is a social contribution program by Chong Kun Dang that visits hospitals to deliver messages of inspiration and hope through healing opera concerts for patients, their families, and medical staff who usually have limited access to performing arts culture. The 'Opera Hope Story' featured in this Onshimpyo program will be a no-audience online performance aimed at comforting citizens and medical staff exhausted by COVID-19, featuring opera arias, musicals, and movie OSTs performed by opera singers and musical actors.

The November Onshimpyo program 'Opera Hope Story' will be held on November 10th at Sejong Center M Theater and will be broadcast live online via Naver TV for citizens and medical staff weary from COVID-19.

Going forward, the three organizations plan to jointly plan various content to revitalize the cultural and artistic sector affected by COVID-19 and promote active exchange projects utilizing the spaces of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

Kim Sung-gyu, President of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, stated, "This business agreement is the second one signed with the Korea Mecenat Association and its members following the MetLife Foundation in July," adding, "Through the business agreement with Chong Kun Dang Holdings and the Korea Mecenat Association, the three parties will combine their diverse capabilities to continuously discover and cooperate on public-private partnership models that comfort citizens and provide new cultural enjoyment opportunities through the value of culture and arts in the with-COVID era."