Ministry of Culture Invites 10 Key Figures from Global Arts and Culture to Expand Foundation for International Cooperation

18th K-Fellowship: Overseas Key Personnel Invitation Program Launched

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 16th that, together with the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, it is implementing the 'Overseas Key Personnel Invitation Program (K-Fellowship),' now in its 18th year.

The Overseas Key Personnel Invitation Program is a customized international exchange project that connects key figures from the global culture and arts sector with the domestic field, expanding networks at home and abroad and laying the foundation for practical cooperation. It enables leading international culture and arts professionals to directly experience Korea’s culture and arts scene and to interact with local counterparts.

Following last year's focus on the performing arts sector, this year the program will center on visual arts and literature·publishing, with ten key figures from each field visiting Korea in succession.

Ezekiel Martinez, Executive Director of the Buenos Aires International Book Fair in Argentina, was the first to be invited this year, visiting Korea at the end of last month in connection with the Seoul International Book Fair. The Buenos Aires International Book Fair is one of Latin America's largest international book fairs and serves as a major platform for the Spanish-language publishing market. On his first visit to Korea, Executive Director Martinez met with key publishing industry stakeholders and organizations—including the Seoul International Book Fair, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea—from June 22 to June 28, gaining insight into the flow and management system of the Korean publishing industry.

Ezequiel Martinez, Director General of the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, who visited Korea at the end of last month through the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's "Overseas Key Personnel Invitation Project (K-Fellowship)," is taking a commemorative photo at the Seoul International Book Fair site. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

In particular, Martinez showed great interest in Korean literary and publishing content and discussed the possibility of Korea participating as the guest of honor at the 2028 Buenos Aires International Book Fair with Korean publishing stakeholders. This provided an opportunity to expand touchpoints for Korean literature to reach Spanish-speaking readers and to lay the foundations for cooperation with the Latin American publishing market.

In the second half of the year, key figures from the visual arts and literature·publishing sectors—who are difficult to invite on an individual private basis—will also visit Korea.

In the visual arts sector, Korea is scheduled to welcome Tobias Berger, Head of Exhibitions at Hong Kong’s Serakai Studio; Daniela Burckhardt, Head of Cooperation for the Karlsruhe Office in Germany, which is designated by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a hub for media art; Solveig Ovstebo, Director of the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Norway; and Amit Gupta, founder and editor-in-chief of Stirworld, a platform for architecture, design, and art content, who will visit Korea’s major exhibitions, events, and institutions.

Upcoming visitors in literature and publishing include Luke Neima, Deputy Editor of the UK literary magazine Granta; Caroline Busta, co-founder of the research and media platform New Models; Elica Dulguerova, Associate Professor of Contemporary Art Theory and History at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne; and Carli Whitefield, Head of Programs at the German nonprofit art institution LAS Art Foundation.

Kim Jaehyun, policy chief at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "The Overseas Key Personnel Invitation Program establishes a basis for international cooperation by connecting leading figures in global culture and arts with Korea's culture and arts field. The Ministry will continue to promote substantial collaborative results through exchanges with top-tier professionals from diverse sectors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.