Gwangju Nam-gu, Six-Day Disabled Culture and Arts Festival from 9th to 14th

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Disabled individuals in Nam-gu, Gwangju (District Mayor Kim Byung-nae) will present a cultural grand festival stage to promote harmony between disabled and non-disabled people and to revitalize disabled cultural arts.

According to Nam-gu and the Disabled Welfare Center on the 4th, the 2nd Disabled Culture and Arts Festival will be held from the 9th to the 14th at the Nam-gu Life Culture Center and the Culture and Arts Hall.

This stage showcases the results of eight months of hard work since March this year in various fields such as creation, performance, and exhibition through the Disabled Culture and Arts Activity Support Project.

First, at the Nam-gu Life Culture Center, an exhibition and art product sales and exhibition featuring 123 artworks created by disabled individuals will be held starting on the 9th.

The exhibition includes 50 works by members of the Nam-gu Disabled Culture Creation Group, 29 works created by users of disabled welfare facilities, 27 works submitted from three disabled day care centers, and 17 works from the Gwangju Disabled Art Association.

Additionally, goods produced for the branding of the Disabled Culture and Arts Group and art products made at disabled welfare facilities will also be available.

On the 10th, at the same location, a commemorative ceremony and a publication celebration for the collection of works by the Nam-gu Disabled Culture Creation Group titled “The Fragrance Stays With You” will be held as a pre-event for the Disabled Culture and Arts Festival.

The collection contains 69 poems and essays by members of the Culture Creation Group, and Nam-gu Council member Oh Young-soon and creation group member Lee Bit-na-ni will recite poems to commemorate the publication.

On the 11th, the main stage event of the Disabled Culture and Arts Festival will take place from 1 p.m. at the Nam-gu Culture and Arts Hall performance venue. Nine teams, including bands, vocal ensembles, and hip-hop dance groups, will perform diverse cultural performances live, and the main stage will be broadcast live online via the Nam-gu Disabled Welfare Center’s YouTube channel.

A Nam-gu official stated, “We ask for much interest and support for the Disabled Culture and Arts Festival, which is a stage of sweat and passion for disabled individuals in the district, and we hope for active support and sponsorship so that cultural and artistic exchanges between disabled and non-disabled people can be actively promoted.”

Meanwhile, District Mayor Kim Byung-nae has been actively promoting the Disabled Culture and Arts Activity Support Project since last year to improve the quality of life for disabled individuals, and this year, he is supporting the operation of the Disabled Culture Creation Group and Arts Group for professional artist training by investing 46 million won in the project budget.