Korean performing arts festival organisers enjoyed a rare but essential opportunity to build up their international network through a seminar and an associated special session of showcase, held on 26, 27 November in COEX ASEM Hall and COEX Art Hall.

The seminar and showcase were jointly organised by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and the Korean representative body of Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals (AAPAF), and supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Korea.

Both the seminar, titled '2004 Seoul International Networking Seminar for Festival Organizers,' and the showcase are considered the first of their kind in Korea. They provided the local performing arts field with a chance to talk to Asian festival leaders face to face and promote artistic talents previously little known overseas.

Over 150 local experts in the fields participated in the seminar, in which four directors of Asia's major performing arts festivals, including Singapore Arts Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival, made speeches on the correlations between festivals and tourism, as well as festivals and city development.

Chen Sheng-Lai, the president of China Shanghai International Arts Festival, said in the seminar that it was inevitable to build up a sincere relationship with geographically close countries as Shanghai aims to become the Asian hub of Arts as well as the global centre city, underlining how much the networking and exchanges with other countries are vital to arts development.

The presentations were followed by an active discussion and question session, reflecting the Korean performing arts community's current strong interest in overseas performing opportunities and the lack of channels to meet the needs.

The fact that over 30 people had flown to Canada in mid-November to attend the CINARS International Exchange in the Performing Arts also demonstrated their eagerness for overseas presentation opportunities and international cultural exchanges.

In the two days of showcase, key figures of major Asian festivals, who are also the members of the AAPAF, saw performances of nine selected Korean performing arts groups, ranging from dance to fusion Korean music - contemporary music played on Korean traditional musical instruments.

This showcase presented not merely high-quality pieces but also demonstrated distinctive hosting and event organisation skills like never before.

Instantly, beyond expectations, Goh Ching Lee, Director of Singapore Arts Festival, and several other festival organisers have indicated their interest in inviting some of the showcased groups, such as LDP the dance group, to their festivals, according to AAPAF Korea Chapter officials.

The showcase, which was timely organised with the AAPAF Executive Council's visit to Korea, is expected to pave the way for local performing artists to present their talents abroad.

Established in June 2004, the AAPAF currently comprises eight major Asian performing arts festivals and four associate members, which share information on each region's performing arts resources and projects.

While interest in arts management has grown rapidly in recent years and regional governments have been actively organising various kinds of international festivals, we are faced with a lack of human resources and networking ability to sustain the growth of the festivals and lead into international cultural exchanges.

Related Korean governments, however, have yet to realise the field's needs and to bring up detailed measures or long-term plans regarding international exchanges of fundamental arts forms, particularly exchanges within the Asian region. Instead, the focus has been on growing and sustaining the boom of Korean singers and television stars in the Asian countries.

- Yonhap News Agency, Seoul, S. Korea, 2 December 2004