Gwangju Universiade Countdown
The Gwangju Universiade has begun its preparation efforts in earnest with a series of test events and the opening of the Main Operation Center (MOC). With the games only days away, the Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC) is conducting the final-stage inspections while preparing to impress the Gwangju’s rich cultural heritage onto the hearts of visitors.
The GUOC is preparing various cultural events to let young people around the world communicate with one another and experience cultural aspects of Gwangju through Gwangju Universiade’s EPIC initiative (Ecoversiade, Peaceversiade, ITversiade and Cultureversiade).
With the backing of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Gwangju City, the GUOC has so far been trying to make Universiade a nationwide event where people from all cities and provinces can easily take part.
Cultureversiade to display style and flavor of Gwangju
Gwangju will have a great opportunity to showcase its artistic, cultural and historic legacy through “Cultureversiade.” The GUOC hopes that Gwangju will become the hub of Asian culture through successfully hosting the games.
Gwangju is widely known for valuing art, democracy, human rights and peace, and history. In the past, Korea’s southern provinces housed political prisoners who were mostly scholarly bureaucrats. Examples include Joseon Dynasty’s Jeong Do-jeon who mapped out the structure of the dynasty while living in exile and Jeong Yak-yong who wrote 154 books on the dynasty’s political and economic reform during an 18-year period. Those people nurtured the cultural and artistic base of the city while writing poems and drawing landscapes against the beautiful natural background of the city. The southern provinces are rich in traditional culture as represented well with their metrical literatures, Goryeo celadon, Chinese paintings of the Southern School, pansori and traditional cuisine. Gwangju is often called “the artists’ town” as it nurtured such well-known figures as Heo Baek-ryeon (Korean painting), Oh Chi-ho (Western painting), Im bang-ul (pansori) and Park Yong-chul (poetry). The city also promoted democracy through May 18 Gwangju Democratic Movement in 1980 against the military dictatorship, sought after human rights and endeavored to come by a prosperous community.
The rich cultural city of Gwangju, which has hosted world-class events including Gwangju Biennale, Design Biennale, Festival O! Gwangju and Gwangju World Kimchi Culture Festival, is ready to take a leap forward to become a global culture hub city with the imminent establishment of the Asian Culture Complex (ACC) due in September.
The Gwangju Universiade is expected to promote cultural exchange between students and athletes through art and sports.
Universiade’s opening and closing ceremonies in the Athletes’ Village and at global youth festivals will offer a great opportunity for the participants to experience and enjoy global culture.
International athletes and visitors to become one through Gwangju culture
The Gwangju Universiade will be a place where students from all over the world can share their passion and energy. They will enjoy all the events to be held for two weeks regardless of their win or loss in the games. The GUOC plans to hold various cultural events, which will unite visitors and local citizens together.
The cultural events are divided into six categories: the Eve Festival, the Universiade Park event, the FISU Gala, Athletes’ Village events, competition venue events and the Youth Festival.
The GUOC will host the Eve Festival on July 2 as a pre-Universiade celebration.
On the same day, FISU and the organizing committee will hold the FISU Gala at the Asian Culture Complex where officials from FISU and GUOC will gather together to celebrate men and women who have dedicated their time and efforts in developing FISU values. The gala will also promote Korean culture and introduce future hosts of FISU Events.
From July 3 to 14, the Universiade Park event will take place around the main competition venues. Participating athletes, officials, locals as well as tourists will enjoy and experience various cultural events and activities. Traditional craftwork, foods, performances, eateries and events will greet people there.
From July 4 to 13, the Nanjang Festival will be held at the ACC’s Democracy Square which is located on Geumnam-ro. The event is aimed at drumming up support for Universiade among youth at home and abroad, sharing Gwangju’s special culture while fulfilling the vision for the Cultureversiade. The festival will be linked to the 2015 World Youth Festival, which will be hosted by Gwangju City. Various music performances and celebration events will take place for global music lovers.
Atheletes Village events to embrace diversity and friendship
The Gwangju Univrersiade’s Athletes Village located on Hwaun-ro, Seo-gu, is a small global village where young people from over 150 countries will stay together for 12 days. A total of 12,600 athletes and officials will be accommodated in 22 buildings of 2,445 units.
A variety of cultural events to promote Gwangju and Korea in general will take place in the Athletes Village. They will be roughly divided into three categories of exhibitions, performances and experience activities.
From July 4 on at the Flag Plaza of the Athletes Village International Zone, experience events including traditional mask making, traditional fan making, caricature drawing and face painting will be offered, to be followed by cultural performances held in two different parts. The first part will feature a cappella, cheer dance and ocarina performances. The second will be filled with such themed performances as an indie band show and a disk jockey show.
Inside the Athletes Village Residential Zone will be the Universiade Museum where Universiade’s history and information will be presented, and the Korean athletes participating in the Gwangju Universiade will be briefly introduced.
A different exhibition hall will also be placed where visitors will get a glimpse of the cultural beauty of Gwangju and Korea and relax in between the competitions.
South and North Jeolla Provinces co-host Universiade
The Gwangju Univerisiade will be held at 37 competition venues and 32 training venues, and related culture events will take place at 32 competition venues and another 24 facilities. A total of 21 self-governing bodies and universities will take part in the regional culture events.
The GUOC plans to differentiate each and every culture festival, considering different characteristics of each venue.
The organizing committee hopes that the southern provinces’ culture will be well-received by foreign visitors and that South and North Jeolla Provinces will be able to breakthrough.
Opening and Closing Ceremonies
Both opening and closing ceremonies of any international sports events are not to be missed as they usually showcase the city to the visitors.
The year 2015 is particularly designated as “The Year of Light” by the United Nations, and the GUOC plans to show the link to the past, the present and future with a story of light.
The Opening Ceremony will start at 7 p.m. at the Universiade Main Stadium on July 3 with the theme of “U are Shinning.” “The Closing Ceremony will be titled “Sharing the Light” and take place at 7 p.m. on July 15 at the same venue.
The director-nominee of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies Park Myung-sung is now in talks with experts to create quality content that highlight Gwangju’s history.
The task left for both ceremonies is to integrate Korean history and culture with Gwangju’s tradition and culture gracefully. The GUOC seeks to put global youths’ passion and dynamic soul into the ceremonies while manifesting the Universiade’s vision for EPIC.
Global Youth Festival
Gwangju plans to host the “2015 Global Youth Festival,” which will both be planned and implemented by young people from Gwangju.
Under the slogan of “Let’s Cheer for the Future of Youths,” five different events will take place—main events, theme events, accompanied events, exhibitions and finale events.
Main events will be held for 25 hours from the evening of July 4 to July 5 at the Democracy Square of the Asian Culture Complex, featuring music, traditional arts, theatre and DJ performances.
Theme events will invite celebrities from various fields and proceed in the style of the TED Conference. The lecturers and the spectators at the conference will unite for networking, and the events will broadcast live.
Accompanied events include Youths Park, a multi-faceted cultural performance, University Culture Festival, an expansion of the discontinued university song festival, Youths Market, where products made by young people at home and abroad will be exchanged and Youths City Camping, a 24-hour program open for global youth to meet new people and make new friends.
Exhibition events will offer opportunities for young people to share and experience different cultures while the finale events will consolidate the friendship the participants had made during Universiade.
The GUOC will also conduct Youths Cheering Squad, which will hold spontaneous cheering events at local university areas and on the streets.
ACC pre-opening events to bring synergy
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is also preparing various events to widely promote Universiade.
The ministry is linking its nationwide performance programs to Gwangju and South Jeolla Province during the June-August period. It also plans to expand its performance programs for the underprivileged in the southern regions. National museums in Gwangju, Naju and Jeonju have set up their respective schedules for exhibitions and cultural events around the time of Universiade.
The ministry is to hold events before the opening of the Asian Culture Complex. An Asian sports festival will be held at the ACC’s Agency of Culture for Children building from July 3 to 12. On July 4 and 5, special performances will be held in conjunction with these events.
Special programs ready to boost the U-spirit
A series of cultural events including the torch relay, starting ceremonies for volunteer groups and other music concerts will promote Universiade.
On June 3, two flames lit at Sorbonne University in Paris and Jangbuljae of Mudeungsan Mountain, will be carried and combined at the Universiade Torch Relay. From June 4 until Universiade’s opening, the torch will travel 3,700 kilometers through 17 cities across the country.
Many concerts are to be held during Universiade. From July 8 to 13, the tentatively named “Gwangju Picnic Festival” will take place. K-pop, rock and dance music will attract young people from all over the world. Exhibitions introducing artwork from different countries will take place and other flea market and exhibition events will also follow.
The GUOC Secretary General Kim Yoon-suk said, “The Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee has been trying to offer as many cultural programs as possible adding to the joy of the Universiade’s sports events.” He added that the organizing committee would try its best to secure sufficient accommodations for visitors and increase the public transportation service during the summer games.