Meet the World in Gwangju! The 2023 Gwangju International Community Week 

By Kim Sukang 

Do you like to meet people around the world? If yes, visit the 2023 Gwangju International Community Week from Friday the 6th to Sunday the 8th this October. 

To globalize the local community, it is important not only that local citizens understand and experience other cultures, but also that international residents are willing to be involved in the local community. For these reasons, Gwangju Metropolitan City has held Gwangju International Community Week since 1994, in which local citizens and international residents can understand and exchange their cultures.  

Here I will introduce you to programs and events at the Gwangju International Community Week.  

The First Day

The International Community Week opens with music concerts and performances from Africa and Asia at 7 p.m. at the Gwangju Student Art Center. You will encounter music from West Africa and performances from India, Kazakhstan, and Korea. TEKERÉ and TURON will show you traditional music from West Africa and a performance using Uzbek percussion instruments, respectively. A Korean performance crew, Yeonheedan Cheongyeon (연희단 청연), will present a stylish and exciting performance with a youthful sense of Korean traditional music. 

The Second Day

If you are interested in learning Korean, there is a lecture for you! Sun Hyun-woo, the co-founder of the famous Korean learning platform Talk to Me in Korean, will let you know how you can learn Korean enjoyably and effectively. If you are good at Korean, participate in his second lecture at the Gwangju International Center: how to learn foreign languages without ever being abroad! After the lectures, you will likely be hungry. At Art Street, a three-minute walk from the GIC, you will arrive at the “Global Pavilions,” where you can try various foods from all over the world, from Asia to Europe to Africa. All food has passed a strict taste test before the event, so it is sure to be delicious – trust me. After lunch, you can listen to and watch “Visible Radio” in a radio booth at Art Street. International resident DJs will share their stories about daily life, their favorite music, and their homelands.  

The Third Day

On the last day, Sunday, October 8, there will be an interesting lecture by Jeong Cheol-kyu He is a famous comedian and multicultural expert and will explain to us in the lecture about a multicultural society. At lunchtime, you can try new food that you either did not get to try at the food booths the day before or that you want to try again. Then you can visit the “Community Villages,” where international communities are. If you like hiking, join the hiking group “Gwangju Hikers.” If you join the group, you will be able to hike all the mountains of Korea with them every weekend going forward. If you like board games, visit the Gwangju Board Game Club booth and join the club. They meet every Sunday to play board games. You can bring your friends! They are always welcoming of new participants. If you like to learn new things and meet new people, Gwangju Talks is waiting for you. Gwangju Talks is a public lecture that is held every Saturday at the GIC. At 5 p.m. in the “Global Cinema,” a documentary will also play at the Gwangju Student Art Center. In the documentary Scenery (풍경, 2013), which will be played that day, Chinese-Korean Director Zhang Lu asks the question, “What is the most memorable dream you had in Korea?” to 14 people from nine countries.  

For more information on the programs, visit the Gwangju International Center website (gic.or.kr). The Gwangju International Community Week will also be held at the same time as the Chungjang World Festival of Recollection, so visit these two events with your family and friends and enjoy various programs. I hope to see you all there!