Shinsegae awarded minister's commendation for arts support

Visitors enjoy art at the Blossom Art Fair held at Shinsaegae's flagship department store. [SHINSAEGAE]

Shinsegae will be awarded the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation on Thursday for its contribution in sponsoring young artists and developing arts and culture.

Shinsegae is the first business in the distribution industry to win the award. It will receive the award through the “Culture and arts funding business certification project” hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Started in 2015, the project recognizes institutions that run exemplary arts and culture funding activities and show excellent results. The minister's commendation has been added as an additional award this year.

Shinsegae has been recognized before, with awards in 2015, 2018 and 2021, but the franchise is receiving a ministry of culture commendation for the first time.

Shinsegae has regularly sponsored the Gwangju Shinsegae art festival and the Young Daegu Artists exhibition, events that unearth and foster up-and-coming young artists, as well as the nation’s first blind art troupe “Hanbit Arts.”

The reward is being seen as a recognition of the company’s continuous support of arts and culture events, according to Shinsegae in a press release on Wednesday.

“Our efforts to provide artistic inspiration to our customers and expand the value of arts and culture have been rewarded in the form of the first minister's commendation for the industry,” said Lee Won-ho, director of Shinsegae’s corporate social responsibility division.

“We will continue our efforts in supporting regular sponsorships and exhibitions so that even more customers can enjoy arts and culture,” he added.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]