❚ Picture Book Flashmob, What a Pleasant Surprise!
- Date: 13 July 2019
- Place: Entrance and 2nd Floor of Miro Market inside Wonju Central Market
- Participants: Picture book activists of Social Cooperative Picture Book City
What a wonderful surprise! Thirteen picture book activists from Social Cooperative Picture Book City got together at Miro market of Wonju city and had picture book flahsmob event for citizens.
This flashmob event has been designed for citizens shopping at and store owners of the Miro market’s 1st and 2nd floors to listen to interesting picture book stories.
Reading picture book stories brought about a pleasant curiosity to moms who were shopping around Miro market.
❚ Culture Event Planner Training Course
- Course Takers: About 30 citizens
- Place: Toji Cultural Centre
- Course Takers: About 30 citizens
This course is designed to have citizens living in Wonju trained to become an independent cultural event planner and practitioner.
Toji Cultural Centre runs this program to help citizens not only to be part of a variety of cultural events to be held around Wonju city but to plan and execute programs on their own. Twenty to thirty citizens take this course every year and they also become a volunteer to make successful Pak Kyongni Literature Festival, which is held for one month of October every year. Big rounds of applause to their commitment, contribution, and service!
❚ Open Lecture: What is the Benefit of Living in a City of UCCN?- Date: 9 July 2019
- Venue: Lecture Hall, Wonju City Central Library
- Speaker: Han, Geon-soo (Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kangwon National University & Councilor of Korean Commission for UNESCO)
- Attendees: It was a public lecture open to Wonju citizens. The lecture was organized by Toji Cultural Foundation about three months ago. After the Korean Commission for UNESCO Counsel Meeting for Wonju city, Toji Cultural Foundation said we need to have more citizens learn about what UCCN is about and what citizens in every sector need to do to make a sustainable city. Curator of Toji Cultural Centre contacted councilors of Korean Commission for UNESCO and invited one of experts on UCCN to the open lecture.
This open lecture was held later in the afternoon on the same day when the closed lecture session was held in the early afternoon.
As it was a public lecture, pop-up ads were run on Wonju TV programmes, posters were put up on bulletin boards in public spaces, and public notice was also available by the city.
About 60 to 70 citizens came to attend our open lecture on UCCN.
- Significance of Open Lecture
The lecture was open to citizens and citizens were able to get to learn about what UCCN is, what values and spirits of UCCN are, what has to be done to develop as a sustainable city on creativity, what contributions need to be made, etc. We did not expect a big turn-out of citizen participants. It was a small step. However, we believe it was more than worth its weight in gold.
❚ UCCN & Small Libraries: Roles and Vision of Wonju Small Libraries Association
- Date: 9 July 2019
- Venue: Lecture Hall, Wonju City Central Library
- Speaker: Han, Geon-soo (Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kangwon National University & Councilor of Korean Commission for UNESCO)
- Attendees: 27 Members of Steering Committee, Wonju Small Libraries Association
- Significance of Lecture
This lecture was prepared by Wonju Small Libraries Association and the chairperson of the Association contacted professor Han, Geon-soo, one of experts on UCCN, a few months ago and invited him to the lecture on what roles and vision Wonju Small Libraries Association needs to have if Wonju city is successfully designated as a city of literature. It was a closed lecture session for members of Wonju Small Libraries Association.
Members of the Association said that they awoke to the lecture session and they mulled over what they need to do to help Wonju develop as a sustainable city on creativity.
❚ Paper Road X - Italy
Date: 2 July 2019 – 28 July 2019
- Venue: ICRCPAL (Istituto centrale per il restauro e la conservazione del patrimonio archivistico e librario), Paper and Watermark Museum Fabriano, Fabriano City Theater
- Organizer: Wonju Hanji Development Centre
2019 Paper Road X was organized by Wonju Hanji Development Centre and held in Fabriano, Italy, from June 2 to July 28.
On the night of June 13, fashion show (by models wearing Hanji fabric-made clothes) was put on stage at main performance hall set up for 2019 Annual Conference(Fabrian, Italy) of UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The show was performed with the theme of Vento d’Oriente dalla Corea(Wind of Orient Flowing all the way from Korea).
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Exhibition of paper mulberry-made dolls, photos, and Wonju Hanji crafts, Korea’s traditional Hanji-crafted artifacts, Hanji-made lighting handicrafts, Hanji-crafted sculptures, and Hanji fabric-made cloth was held at Paper and Watermark Museum Fabriano from June 2 to July 28. In addition, an exhibition hall for Wonju Hanji was established at Paper and Watermark Museum Fabriano. Wonju Hanji-dedicated display hall started running on July 30 and it will keep showing a variety of displayed crafts at Paper and Watermark Museum Fabriano until 31 August 2022.
Academic forum and workshop were also held at ICRCPAL and Paper and Watermark Museum Fabriano as part of Paper Road X – Italy.
❚ 2019 Wonju One City One Book Reading Campaign Book Concert
- Date: 15 June 2019
- Place: Wonju Education Culture Centre
- Organizer: Wonju Education Culture Centre, Wonju Sustainable Development Commission, and Wonju One City One Book Reading Campaign
Wonju One City One Book Reading Campaign started in 2004 and it is a concerted effort book reading campaign with civic groups, public organizations, and corporations combined. 2019 marks its 16th year.
The Campaign was designed to help reading culture spread all over and it has contributed to nurturing reading culture in Wonju since the campaign started. Besides, many cities around Korea visit Wonju to learn about what and how to help reading take root in the heart of citizens. Wonju is said to be the role model of this campaign.
The book of 2019 is Ms. Sontag, selected by Wonju One City One Book Reading Campaign. It is the story of Hotel Sontag(the Korea’s first western style hotel that started its service in 1902, and this place has a significant historic meaning in Korea’s modern history) and real figures but fictitious event about the missing Hotel Sontag’s owner. 2019 marks the 100th year of March 1 Independence Movement(1919) and Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea(established in 1919). This is of significance because this year is the 100th year of two historic events.
❚ The 50th Anniversary of Wonju City Central Library: Story of 50 Years
We believe especially children and young students had a good learning experience.
- Place: Wonju City Central Library and Dan-gu Park
- Participants: Around 6,200 citizens
Wonju City Central Library has played a key role in promoting reading culture to citizens since its service started on 14 June 1969.
This year marks its 50th year of the Library’s service. In the 1950s and 1960s, everything in Wonju and also in Korea was deficient because the Korean War(1950-1953) left nothing and it took a long while to reconstruct and put everything back in place once again. Thus, the establishment and service of a library was as good as a real godsend back then.
To commemorate the 50 years of service, the Library had many participatory programs ready for citizens to enjoy with their family.
Exhibition events were held inside display hall of the Library from June 11 to June 23 and main events were offered for two days(June 15 to 16) inside and around the Library and Dan-gu Park nearby.
Exhibition and main events included marionette show, music band performance, book festivals, forum, photo album display, outdoor performances, outdoor experiential event, etc.
We believe especially children and young students had a good learning experience.
❚ The 28th Mt. Chiak-san National Youth Writing Contest
- Date: 1 June 2019
- Place: Pak Kyongni Literature Park
- Organizer: Wonju Writers Association (Wonju Branch of The Korean Writers’ Association)
- Participants: Students (elementary, middle, and high school students from across Korea)
- Genre: Essay, Poem, and Traditional Three-stanza Korean Poem
One of Wonju-based writers’ associations, Wonju Branch of The Korean Writers’ Association, briefly referred to as Wonju Writers Association, held Mt. Chiak-san National Youth Writing Contest.
Chiak-san is a national park in Wonju and this year marks the 28th year of the writing contest.
The Mt. Chiak-san National Youth Writing Contest was designed not only to encourage and motivate young students nationwide to engage more in literature activities, but to offer potential students an opportunity to become a promising writer in the future. For the past 28 years, the writing contest has contributed to nurturing the literature spirit of students.
Students of elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide are encouraged to submit their application to the Association’s secretariat and as many as approximately 300 students came all the way to Wonju to participate in the writing contest.
❚ Korean Commission for UNESCO Counsel Meeting for Wonju City
❚ 2018 Wonju Creative Cities Global Forum
- Date: 13 November 2018
- Venue: Toji Cultural Centre
- Key Invited Guest Speakers & Panel Discussion Participants
1) Han, Geon-soo, Professor of Kangwon National University and Councilor of Korean National Commission for UNESCO
2) Chris Gribble, CEO of National Centre for Writing, Norwich City, the U.K.
3) Christopher Merrill, Director of International Writing Program and Professor of University of Iowa, Iowa City, the U.S.
4) Justyna Jochym, Creative Consultant, Krakow City, Poland
- Purpose of Forum: To learn UNESCO Creative City Network, how other member cities of literature joined UCCN, what positive impact has been given, futurei plans, etc.
- Partcipants of Wonju City
Around 90 people participated in the forum, including Wonju City Mayor, Wonju City Council Chairperson, Wonju Creative City Steering Committee members, many in literature and arts sector, and citizens.
- Significance of Forum: Including Wonju City Mayor, Wonju City Council Chairperson and Councilors, and Wonju Creative City Steering Committee members, we learned a great deal of lesson from the invited cities of literature and councilor of KNCU.
