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British Council

In partnership with the Baring Foundation and Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, <UK-Korea Creative Ageing Conference 2017> provided a platform where we could build bridges for exchange of knowledge, networks and collaboration in order to reflect on the role of arts within the fast-ageing societies of the UK and Korea. Find out more about the conference, workshops and creative ageing practice of Korea from Sebastian Crutch’s report on his visit to Korea. 

Review on UK-Korea Creative Ageing Conference 

<UK-Korea Creative Ageing Conference> on 5 December began with a plenary session entitled Why creative ageing? followed by themed sessions on Arts and intergeneration, Arts and dementia, and Capacity building and training for catalysts. 

Playing a local village version of Monopoly with local residents. Each of the elders had decorated models of their own homes and players took turns rolling the enlarged decorated material die. ©

Sebastian Crutch

Images of intergenerational puppets (left) and shadow play projects (right; a play about a grandfather who fought in the Korean War) with local older residents and school children. The middle school students visited the centre during their school club time, learning more about their community. Seniors also visit the school to teach. ©

Sebastian Crutch

Gu-Yoen Hwang, craftsman at IMAGO, presenting the UK delegation with handmade ant sculptures crafted from natural local materials.  ©

Sebastian Crutch

Susan Langford, Director of Magic Me, is having a presentation at UK-Creative Ageing Confrence held in Busan ©

Geumjeong Foundation for Arts & Culture

On 7 December, the UK delegation visited IMAGO Senior Community Centre in Busan to study creative ageing practices of Korea. The creative activities and ethos at the IMAGO Senior Community Centre were described by Jungmi Hwang, Director of IMAGO. Most of the activities are led by older local residents, including an activity involving model making using natural materials and glue guns led by a man who gained his craft leading qualification aged 83. The huge impact of the modestly sized but impressively designed centres were apparent, as were the homely benefits of a dedicated space decorated progressively with the creative makings of community members. The UK delegation reflected that the UK would benefit greatly from more IMAGOs. David Cutler caught the mood of the group as we wandered away: “It’s a little bit of paradise”.

Following the visit to IMAGO, the UK group toured the current exhibitions of the Busan Museum of Art, viewing installations by leading Korean artist Lee Ufan and meeting the museum’s chief curator Wonseok Koh and Director  Sun Hee Kim.  

The visit concluded on Friday 8 December with plenary presentations, talks and Pecha Kucha briefings at Kuemsa-dong Campus D, Busan. The audience heard about creative ageing and intergenerational projects held in, and transforming or re-using, a variety of different community buildings, places and settings. 

UK delegation

  • David Cutler, Director, Baring Foundation
  • Susan Langford, Director, Magic Me
  • Kate Duncan, Programme Director - Wellbeing, City Arts in Nottingham
  • Sebastian Crutch, Neuropsychologist, UCL, & Director, Created Out of Mind, The Hub, Wellcome Collection Zak Hulstrom, Development, City of London Sinfonia
  • Carol Rogers, Executive Director, National Museums Liverpool
  • Penny Allen, Adult Participation Manager, The Courtyard in Herefordshire
  • Alice Thwaite, Director – Development, Equal Arts
  • Diane Amans, Dance Artist and Training Consultant
  • Emma Robinson, Age Cymru

Korean contributors to Seoul conference and round tables

  • Youngjik Go, Literary Critic, Writers Association of Korea
  • Joohee Kang, Anyang Foundation for Culture and Arts
  • Kyung A Nam, Executive Director, Seoul 50 Plus Western Campus
  • Kiwon Kim, Deputy Director, National Institute of Dementia 
  • Jeong Ok Hwang, Visiting Professor, Kyungsung University 
  • Ji Kwon Rang, Teaching Artist, Sang Myung Industry Academy Cooperation FoundationYong Hyun Kim, Director, Mobile Arts Station
  • Jiyoung Hwang, Associate Educator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Arts 
  • Haeji Hong, Assistant Educator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Arts
  • Jung-In Lee, Project Manager, Seoul 50 Plus Western Campus
  • Mi-Hwa Lee, Artist, Store N 
  • Kyungae Min, Deputy Manager, The Federation of Korean Cultural Centre
  • EunBit Cho, Project Manager, The Federation of Korean Cultural Centre
  • Hyun Sun Jang, CEO, JnP Group

Korean contributors to Busan conference

  • Donghee Han, Director, Research Institute of Science for the Better Living of the Elderly
  • Minkyung Lee, Busan Cultural Foundation 
  • Hoonkyu Kim, Secretary General, Ha-seong DanNoul (Sweet Sunset) Living Culture Centre
  • Jungmi Hwang, IMAGO 
  • Sooyeon Hong, Theatre Jagalchi
  • Kyungwon Park, Busan Metropolitan Dementia Centre
  • Youngyoun Kim, Ings Culture & Arts Education Institute

Sebastian Crutch 

Neuropsychologist, UCL, & Director, Created Out of Mind, The Hub, Wellcome Collection 

Sebastian Crutch is a neuropsychologist and Professorial Research Associate at the Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology. His research focuses on rare and young onset dementias, especially posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), the so-called ‘visual variant’ of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The work has led to improved understanding of dementia-related visual impairment and the causes and consequences of atypical AD more generally.