Forum on cultural communication discusses life after Coivd

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Forum on cultural communication discusses life after Coivd

Cultural Communications Forum 2020 panelists pose on Wednesday at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in central Seoul. [CICI]

Cultural Communications Forum 2020 panelists pose on Wednesday at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in central Seoul. [CICI]

While various cultural content has been presented in a digital form in the Covid-19 era, cultural figures from around the world shared conflicting outlooks on whether such a shift will become the new norm in the post Covid-19 era or remain a passing trend, during a panel at the annual culture summit on Aug. 26 to 27 by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI).
 
Marking its 11th anniversary this year, CICI’s Content Communications Forum (CCF) invited domestic and foreign scholars, ambassadors of cultural powers living in Korea and the leaders of cultural communication from around the world to share their insights on the topic “effective ways to deliver cultural contents in the post-Covid-19 era,” at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in central Seoul. 
 
This year’s discussion topic was led by the results of CICI’s online survey conducted earlier this year which asked respondents how their experiences with cultural content had changed due to Covid-19. 
 
The survey results implied that the majority had not yet experienced the new online cultural content, such as VR exhibitions and online concerts.  
 
“This year, with the coronavirus crisis, the world has become a whole different place, and a new light has been brought to the field of cultural production,” the president of CICI, Choi Jung-wha said. “Cultural creators and actors are therefore required not only to provide adapted content but also to adapt the way they convey them.”  
 
The forum kicked off with congratulatory remarks by the French Minister of State for Digital Affairs Cédric O through a video call, who emphasized the need to support cultural content diversity at a governmental level by making an environment for a wider variety of players to create and produce digital cultural content.  
 
“The cultural consumption pattern has changed greatly because of the pandemic. Even before Netflix, such platform has influenced our consumption pattern, but the change has intensified and accelerated to the point where these players are almost monopolizing the online cultural content.”  
 
French economic and social theorist Jacques Attali said a pandemic serves as a trigger point for change in practicing cultural arts in which we will all become artists in the future. 
 
“Everytime we see a pandemic, we see a new form of art that continues even after the pandemic,” Attali said. “New art forms that utilize new technology will appear. For example, the Chinese platform TikTok is a way to create content similar to karaoke. Artists are selling postcards, targeting collectors. These small trends will grow into a larger market.”
 
Adding on to Attali’s view on the digitization of cultural content, Canadian President and Vice-Chancellor of Ontario College of Art & Design University Ana Serrano added a comment that “the digital capacity is now even more important than ever.”
 
American K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin cited online K-pop concerts as successful cases in which digitization of cultural content can be continued as the new normal. “BTS and SuperM’s online concert as examples that ended in great success recently,” Benjamin said.  
 
However, opposing views were also raised that after the pandemic, the ways of delivering cultural content will return to usual instead of the pandemic altering our habits.  
 
“Interaction is where new ideas are born. When you meet someone, it ignites all your senses. Reading a book on a digital device and the actual paper book are different in the ways how they are engraved in our brains, just as watching an opera online and coming to Madrid Theatre are completely different.” Spanish author Javier Moro said.  
 
American comic book writer Amy Chu stressed that not just delivery of content is important but the engagement of content, because unlike at an actual venue where mutual interaction is possible, such mutual engagement is harder in digital content.  
 
“We need to set how are we able to make a hybrid model where we can let every consumer to engage in the content,” Chu said.  
 
The Content Communications Forum (CCF), which has been held since 2010, is designed to promote better communication in Korean society by CICI.  
 
This year’s CCF, cohosted by CICI, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korean Culture and Information Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was held under the concept of “Together.” 
 
Despite being unable to gather all together due to the spread of Covid-19, the conference conveyed the message of the importance to stay connected remotely through videoconference.
 
BY KIM YEON-AH   [kim.yeonah@joongang.co.kr]
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