Gwangju International Internship Program (GIIP) 2020 – Centre des arts d’Enghien-les-Bains
Written and photographed by Lee Jeongmin.
The Gwangju International Center (GIC) is providing global internship opportunities to the Korean youth of our city with financial support from Gwangju City Hall. Participating organizations have their areas of interest in culture, business, social welfare, and human rights among others. Since Gwangju is designated as UNESCO Media Arts Creative City and known nationwide as a city of arts and culture, we would like to give opportunities to Korean youth to have internship experience in cultural fields abroad.
This year, a new organization from France has joined the project. France’s Enghien-les-Bains has been a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network since 2013 and is a Media Arts City. It is also the home of Centres Des Arts (CDA), Enghien’s state-funded digital arts center. Being at the junction of art, science, and technology, the CDA is an innovative hub and an expertise and consulting platform. For over twelve years, the spa town located at the gateway to Paris has developed a cultural program with ambition and conviction. The CDA has always pursued a bold arts strategy and has established itself at the heart of the artistic landscape, notably since 2005 with the arrival of Bains numériques, the international digital arts biennial (Media Arts Biennale).
Multidisciplinary by vocation, the CDA specializes in production (live performances, exhibitions, installations, audiovisual), distribution, and art initiatives for and with the general public, and it also runs a program of arts residencies to support contemporary artists. International cooperation has also become an important component of Enghien’s digital activity supported by the CDA, which acts as the lead partner on digital innovation projects in the areas of visual art, performance art, and cinema.
Due to the new project cooperation with France, GIC coordinators went on a business trip to the new organization last month. They met with the coordinator of the International and European Project corporations, Miss Marie Lesage, and discussed aspects related to the new collaboration project related to commitment and specificities of the GIIP program (Gwangju International Internship Program).
The CDA will conduct orientation and training for the new intern and evaluate his/her performance monthly through reports also sent to GIC, assist the intern in finding accommodation, and help with adaptation to the working environment. On the other hand, the GIC will provide a monthly stipend for the work, travel insurance, and all direct costs related to intern placement at the CDA.
The prospective intern will work with the preparation team for the International Media Arts Biennial, Bains numériques, which will take place from June 11 to 14 this year in Enghien-les-Bains. The Biennial is organized all around the city and attracts about 35,000 visitors. This free-access event is composed of an urban path of artistic installations, a series of shows, performances, and concerts as well as a Digital Factory. After visiting the venue, our center’s staff conclusions were that the CDA’s work environment is a very pleasant one, and the surrounding area is also very clean and safe, and also the collaboration with Marie Lesage was great and fruitful.
THE AUTHOR
Born is Gwangju, Lee Jeongmin is, since 2015, one of the coordinators at Gwangju International Center. She likes reading books, swimming and hiking.