The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 26th that through the 'Invitation of Key Overseas Figures (K-Fellowship)' program, it will invite 14 key figures in the cultural and artistic fields from 11 countries to Korea from May to October.
Since 2009, the Ministry has been promoting the invitation program for key overseas figures, inviting artists, heads of cultural and artistic institutions, and policymakers from major countries with Korean Cultural Centers abroad. Through this program, over 200 key figures have visited Korea. This year, in addition to the Korean Cultural Centers abroad, the invitation targets were selected based on recommendations from the host organizations of cultural and artistic festivals actively engaged in international exchange activities in the regions.
This year, Winrich Hopp, Artistic Director of Germany's 'Musikfest Berlin,' which has a significant influence on the European classical music scene, will visit Korea in July. Hopp will meet with representatives from the Busan Metropolitan Opera and the Tongyeong International Music Foundation to discuss collaboration. Val?rie Chevalier, General Director of the Montpellier National Opera Orchestra in France, who was selected as one of the 100 most influential women in the French cultural sector in 2023, will visit the Busan International Dance Festival and the Busan Cultural Foundation in June. Professor Roland Jenp?ly from Hungary's historically prestigious Liszt Academy of Music will attend the Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival in August. David Bailey, President of the International Society for the Performing Arts in the United States, which connects arts experts and institutions from over 50 countries, plans to tour various performing arts venues including the Seoul Art Market and the Seoul International Performing Arts Festival in October.
During the Seoul Writers' Festival in September, literary experts will be invited to continue the growing interest in Korean literature following last year's Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to author Han Kang. Anne Mosoff, Artistic Director of the Sydney Writers' Festival in Australia, and Christopher Merrill, Director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in the United States, will visit Korea.
Kim Hyun-jun, Director of International Cultural Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "By serving as a bridge between invited figures and domestic cultural and artistic institutions, the Korean Cultural Centers abroad are expected to produce continuous results through the invitation program for key overseas figures." He added, "The Ministry will actively support the implementation of follow-up projects discussed through the Korean Cultural Centers abroad."
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