Gyeonggi Province Strengthens Support for Traditional Culture and Arts

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 16th that it will strengthen support for the succession and development of traditional culture and arts by activating various competitions and contests.

The province will first increase the prize money for the top award—the Presidential Prize—at the "Gyeonggi National Gugak Festival," which is held annually on a national scale, from 7 million won to 15 million won or more, in order to elevate it to a status comparable to the Jeonju Dansaseupsnoori Festival.

To ensure that contests do not end as one-time events, the province plans to hold regular gugak (traditional Korean music) recitals annually starting this year, featuring past Presidential Prize winners and renowned singers from across the nation.

The province also plans to heighten public interest in traditional music and promote the popularization of gugak by allowing spectators to experience pungmul nori (folk percussion performance) and various traditional instruments during the contests.

Additionally, to carry on the legacy of regional traditional folk arts, the province will provide 10 million won in expenses to municipal and provincial representative participating groups at the biennially held Gyeonggi Province and National Folk Arts Festival.

The province has also allocated 150 million won—600,000 won each—to 25 outstanding traditional folk arts with high preservation value from 13 municipalities and counties, including Suwon's Janggitgi, Yeoju's Ssangyong Rope Tug-of-War, and Bucheon's Seokcheon Nonggi Godumeo-ri.

To expand the base of gugak, the province will operate a "gugak instructor pool system" and provide gugak education to elementary, middle, and high school students.

The gugak instructor pool system works by selecting gugak majors and dispatching them to schools in the field, where they provide education once a week in gugak theory and instrument practice.

This year, the province plans to dispatch 110 gugak instructors to 223 schools for one year, including 172 elementary schools, 27 middle schools, 20 high schools, and 4 special schools, to provide gugak education.

A Gyeonggi Province official stated, "Traditional culture and arts such as gugak have great potential value as a Korean Wave brand," and added, "We will expand the base through various contest support and education to further enhance its value."