A test program at the Asian Culture Academy, part of the Asian Culture Complex in Gwangju, will run between November 2014 and February 2015, before the academy's official opening next year.

Construction of the Asian Culture Complex will be completed by October 2015, and it will be home to the Asian Cultural Information Agency (ACIA).



The Asian Culture Academy, one of the key projects of the ACIA, is an educational "culture academy" designed to train contemporary art and fine art professionals and strengthen the base of related human resources across the region.

The academy will run its test program, the Hub City of Asian Culture project, on behalf of the Institute of Asian Cultural Development, also part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The test program aims to fine tune the academy's key educational courses and outlines before its official opening next year.

The test program consists of art and fine art classes that will train professional artists to work in the Asian Culture Complex. As part of the test program, an artist and curator educational course will be held at the Horang Gasinamu Changjakso art studio in Nam-gu District, Gwangju, from November 12 to 28.

The course is designed for young Asian artists and curators and it will all be conducted in English. Students will review Asian contemporary art produced over the past 10 years, starting with the "Under Construction: New Dimensions of Asian Art" exhibit created by eight curators from seven Asian countries. They will try to image what contemporary art will look like in the near future.

Lecturers include 10 curators, scholars and artists and they will hold classes, open lectures and joint workshops. At the end of the course, students will have to make a presentation based on their own research. Themes will vary for each student. Participation in the program is free of charge. During the test program, room and board will be provided for 10 students who will be selected through a screening process.

An application form is available at the Asian Cultural Information Agency homepage (http://acia.kr/kr/news/2014/). The deadline is October 17.

By Lee Jeongrok, Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writers
jeongrok@korea.kr