Andong 'Seogyeongjigil' Alley Culture Festival to be Held ... A 'Day to Play with Culture' Created by Residents and Artists

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] In the village alleys of Andong City, Gyeongbuk, a vibrant alley culture festival is unfolding where residents and artists come together to share wisdom.

Andong, which promotes itself as a citizen-powered historical and cultural city, will hold the ‘Culture Play Day’ event on Seogyeongji-gil in Taehwa-dong from the 18th to the 19th.

This event is part of the ‘Deep Andong Project,’ a cultural city development initiative, where the village community grows through support and residents directly plan and participate.

It is aimed at encouraging residents of aging alley-level villages, lacking cultural life, to find culture they can feel themselves and to solve problems within the village. The event will feature a pre-event on the 17th at 7 PM and experiential and exhibition events from 1 PM to 6 PM on the 18th.

At the pre-event on the 17th, performances and musical concerts by village residents and resident artists will provide a time for communication and harmony among residents. On the following day, the 18th, the exhibition and experiential events will include programs such as an exhibition of village nameplates made by residents, natural dye exhibitions, citizen-participation Yutnori (traditional Korean board game), and collaborative alleyway mural painting.

The residents planned an event titled ‘Seogyeongji Alley with Dreams’ under the theme of forgotten dreams of themselves and their neighbors, composing a pre-event performance expressing the dreams of the residents.

Going forward, they plan to continuously discover residents’ childhood dreams and expand the content to realize them through performances.

Seogyeongji Alley has been gradually filled with various cultural and artistic spaces since the alley mural project was promoted as a cultural specialization project in 2019. Last year, through the ‘Culture Play Day’ event, resident-led cultural activities and village community activities were carried out.

One resident said, “Since this village culture is created by village residents and full-time artists rather than professional planners, it may seem rough and not flashy with nothing to boast about, but we take pride in that we made it ourselves and do it together with our neighbors.”

Andong City and the Korea Spirit and Culture Foundation, which support various projects through the cultural city initiative, announced, “We will continue to support the process of forming village communities and projects to activate and spread citizen cultural enjoyment and autonomous village culture.”