Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

14. Seoul Olympic Arts
Festival
14.1
The Seoul Olympic Arts
Festival
14.1.1
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Planning and Preparations
Through the Olympic culture-arts
festival, the host country introduces its
culture and arts to a worldwide audience,
provides an opportunity of crossfertilization
for different cultures and
arts, affords its people a chance to
appreciate foreign cultures and arts.
The Seoul Olympic Arts Festival set up
the following objectives:
• To introduce to the world the unique
characteristics of Korean traditional
culture and arts.
• To present balanced and varied programs
representing traditional and
modern culture and arts of all regions
of Korea.
• To operate the festival in such a
manner as to turn it into a world
festival dedicated to the ideals of
reconciliation and progress.
In order to successfully achieve the
above objectives, the basic policy was
implemented to reflect the views and
opinions of artists and cultural leaders
through their participation in the planning
and execution of the festival
programs.
The Seoul Olympic Arts Festival
began with the Gala Opening at the
National Theater on August 17, 1988, a
month before the opening of the Seoul
Olympics, and lasted for 50 days until
October 5. Performances were held at
no fewer than 32 venues including the
National Theater, Sejong Cultural
Center, Hoam Art Hall, Seoul Arts
Center, National Classical Music
Center, Munye Theater, Seoul Nori
Madang, Munhwa Gymnasium, Youido
Plaza, and the Han Riverside Parks,
and in 21 cities and towns along the
Olympic torch relay course. Exhibitions
were held at 19 venues including
the National Museum of Korea, in
Seoul and five other national
museums in provincial areas, the
National Museum of Contemporary
Art, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of
Arts, Sejong Cultural Center,
Kyongbok Palace, National Classical
Music Center, Olympic Park, Korea
Exhibition Center, and the Olympic
Stadium Exhibition Deck.
The Seoul Olympic Arts Festival consisted
of galas, performances and
exhibition programs. The festival programs
were organized by the SLOOC,
the Seoul City, the National Theater,
the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation
and 28 other arts and cultural
organizations. A total of 30,722 artists
and 528 organizations, including
2,399 foreign artists of 43 organizations
in 72 foreign countries, participated
in the festival.
The following 73 countries took part in
the Seoul Olympic Arts Festival:
From Asia: Bangladesh, Chinese
Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Korea, Leba-
non, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand
and Turkey;
Australia and New Zealand from
Oceania;
Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory
Coast, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia,
Togo and Zaire from Africa;
Agrentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico,
Puerto Rico, Peru, Uruguay, the
U.S.A. and Venezuala from the
Americas;
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, the Federal Republic of Germany,
Great Britain, Greece, Iceland,
Ireland, Luxembourg, Italy, the Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden
and Switzerland from Europe; and 10
countries without diplomatic relations
with Korea, including Bulgaria, the
People's Republic of China, Cuba,
Czechoslovakia, the German
Democratic Republic, Hungary,
Poland, Rumania, the U.S.S.R. and
Yugoslavia.
It is noteworthy that Korea made
cultural exchanges with socialist countries
for the first time during the Seoul
Olympic Arts Festival. Artists from
Estern bloc countries introduced
their arts and cultures which up to
then had been unfamiliar to Korean
audiences. The U.S.S.R. sent the
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, a
ballet troupe with Bolshoi Ballet
dancers playing leading parts, and two
Korean-Russian female vocalists,
Ludmilla Nam and Nelli Lee.
The Ministry of Culture and Information,
the SLOOC's Culture and
Ceremonies Operation Headquarters
and the Seoul City's Olympic Planning
Team were put in charge of the Seoul
Olympic Arts Festival. A Cultural Program
Operation Unit with a staff of 789
and an Olympiad of Art Operation Unit
with a staff of 68 were organized under
the Culture and Ceremonies Operation
Headquarters.
The Seoul Olympic Arts Festival Promotion
Council was formed to decide
basic plans and administer operational
matters of the festival. The council had
10 planning sub-committees for
various areas including the Opening
and Closing Ceremonies, cultural
events at the Olympic Village, cultural
properties exhibitions, cultural exhibitions,
fine arts exhibitions, traditional
arts, musical performances, theatrical
performances and folk arts.
To assist the promotion council and
coordinate the 10 planning subcommittees,
a Planning Consultative
Committee composed of the chairmen
of the 10 planning sub-committees
and working-level officials of related
organizations was created.
The Seoul Olympic Arts Festival Promotion
Council deliberated on and
adjusted the basic planning for the
festival and the 10 planning subcommittees
coordinated operations in
their areas and decided upon festival
programs. Each organization hosting
festival programs had its own operation
committee.
The SLOOC began to draw up a comprehensive
plan for the Seoul Olympic
Arts Festival as soon as the Seoul
Asian Games ended, on the basis of
close analysis and evaluation of the
Seoul Asian Games Arts Festival by
organizing symposiums and report
sessions by working-level officials and
reflecting the opinions of a broad
spectrum of society. The SLOOC's
working-level officials drew up a draft
plan involving the scale and areas of
the festival, selection of Korean and
foreign artists and organizations and
their repertoires, budget requirements
and funding sources. This draft plan
was first considered by the 10 planning
sub-committees, then by the Planning
Consultative Committee, and finally by
the Promotion Council. The final master
plan for the Seoul Olympic Arts
Festival was announced on September
17, 1987, a year before the opening of
the Games.
In addition to the official festival, a
number of performances and exhibitions
were held before, during and
after the Olympic Games by various
arts and cultural organizations. Performances
and exhibitions determined
after the announcement of the master
plan were staged as unofficial events.
A total sum of 28,039.21 million won
was spent on the Seoul Olympic Arts
Festival, including 11,828.77 million
won raised by the SLOOC, 2,270.51
million won donated by the Korean
Culture and Arts Foundation, 4,360.26
million won jointly borne by the hosting
organizations, and 369.21 million won
donated by the Korean government. Of
the total sum, 16,731.7 million won was
spent on performing arts and the rest
on exhibitions. Of the performing art
events, Turandot by La Scala Opera
Theater cost the most at 4,500 million
won, of which 1,830 million won was
covered by the SLOOC and the
balance by the Italian government,
corporate donations and ticket sales.
Of the exhibitions, the International
Open-Air Sculpture Symposium cost
the most at 4,404 million won, followed
by the International Open-Air
Sculpture Exhibition which cost 4,291
million won.
The Seoul Olympic Arts Festival
attracted 9,551,488 persons, who broke
down into 566,163 who attended performances,
1,967,602 who visited
exhibitions and 7,017,723 spectators at
gala programs.
Members of the Seoul Olympic Arts
Festival Promotion Council Kang
Won-ryong,
Chairman, President of the Korea
Christian Academy
Kang Yong-sik,
Vice-Minister of Culture and
Information
Kim Seong-jin,
President of the International
Cultural Society of Korea
Kim Chin-won,
Deputy Mayor of Seoul
ParkYong-gu,
Music and dance critic
Yo Sok-ki,
Professor of Korea University,
1
President of the Korean Culture and
Arts Foundation
Yoon Yang-chung,
President of the Seoul Arts Center
Lee Chun,
President of the Fine Arts
Association of Korea
Lee Hae-rang,
Drama director
Ryu Kyong-chae,
President of the National Academy of
Arts
Chung Ku-ho,
President of the Korean
Broadcasting System
Cho Kyong-hee,
Minister without Portfolio and former
president of the Korean Federation of
Arts and Cultural Organizations
Cho Sang-hyon,
Vocalist
Chon Pong-cho,
President of the Music
Association of Korea and of the Korean
Federation of Arts and Cultural
Organizations
Kim Ock-jin, Secretary-General of the
SLOOC
Choe Yol-gon,
Superintendent of the Seoul Board of
Education
Choe ll-hong,
Vice-Minister of Sports
Choe Chong-ho,
Professor of Yonsei University
Choe Chang-bong,
Vice-Chairman, of the Korea Broadcasting
Ethics Committee
Chae Chang-yoon,
Vice-Minister of Culture and
Information
Han Yang-soon,
Member of the Board of the Korea
Amateur Sports Association
Hwang Sun-pil,
President of the Munhwa Broadcasting
Company
Whang Su-young,
Member, of the Cultural Properties
Committee
1. Seoul Olympic Arts Festival Poster.