Significant Increase in Activities of Disabled Artists... Average 16.8 Times Over the Past 3 Years

The artistic activities of artists with disabilities have significantly increased over the past three years.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with the Korea Disabled Artists Culture and Arts Center and the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, released the "2024 Survey on the Cultural and Artistic Activities of Artists with Disabilities (based on 2021-2023)" on the 19th. This survey was conducted for the second time since 2021, based on Article 8 of the "Act on Support for Cultural and Artistic Activities of Artists with Disabilities."

The survey results showed that the average number of times artists with disabilities presented or participated in works increased by more than 40% over the past three years.

The average number of cultural and artistic presentations or participations by artists with disabilities over the past three years was 16.8 times, an increase of 4.8 times compared to the 12 times recorded in the 2021 survey. Regarding conditions for cultural and artistic activities, 61.2% of artists with disabilities responded that opportunities for cultural and artistic activities were insufficient. The biggest difficulties in cultural and artistic activities were identified as lack of creative support funds (26.7%), lack of rehearsal and creative spaces (19.3%), and difficulties in renting spaces (15.6%).

Regarding the types of disabilities among artists with disabilities, the survey found the following distribution: physical disabilities (30%), intellectual disabilities (23.1%), autism spectrum disorder (14.4%), visual impairments (14.3%), hearing/speech impairments (6.6%), brain lesions (5.4%), and others (6.1%). The main artistic fields in which artists with disabilities are active were visual arts (30.3%), Western music (23.1%), literature (11.5%), popular music (9.7%), and traditional Korean music (Gugak) (5.8%).

The proportion of artists with disabilities working as full-time professional artists was 50.4%. The employment types in cultural and artistic activities were mostly fixed-term or contract positions·temporary positions (38.8%), followed by part-time·hourly positions (25%), self-employed (18%), daily workers (12.7%), and regular employees (8.9%). As of 2023, the average annual income of artists with disabilities was 9,095,000 KRW, with a median income of 2,000,000 KRW.

The survey of cultural facilities showed that 57.7% responded that cultural and artistic activities by artists with disabilities were possible, an increase of 22.5 percentage points compared to the previous survey.

The main reason for difficulties in activities by artists with disabilities was "insufficient convenience facilities for persons with disabilities," at 81.3%. The percentage of cultural facilities regularly hosting cultural and artistic events for artists with disabilities was 14.0%, up 7.6 percentage points from the previous survey, and the percentage developing such events was 55.8%, up 25.4 percentage points from the previous survey.

A policy official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "Through this survey, we were able to partially confirm the achievements of disability cultural and artistic policies promoted as national tasks, such as improving accessibility to cultural and artistic activities for persons with disabilities at cultural facilities. We will further strengthen support for cultural and artistic activities of artists with disabilities by expanding the beneficiaries of creative support funds and expanding rehearsal and creative spaces by region."