WEBZINE ACC

It is the season when you can see different colors at the end of each branch. Yellow-green sprouts of street trees and colorful flowers boasting their beauty welcome the warmth of spring in the gray city. Today I saw fringetrees on the street, one of the most beautiful trees in May. The weather still feels like April, but fringetrees are welcoming May.

Fringetrees covering Gwangju in white in May are the symbol of May 18 of Gwangju. Fringetrees boast its beauty with their white flowers, reminding people of snowy days in winter. Fringetrees have become a symbol of May of Gwangju, resembling the brave citizens of Gwangju who poured into the streets and were willing to sacrifice themselves for democracy and those who supported the protesters by providing them with rice balls during the military dictatorship period in 1980.

Geumnam-ro is full of the white flowers of fringe trees again this year. It reminds us of the protesters' spirit of self-sacrifice for democracy. In May, Gwangju has changed numerous things of the Republic of Korea. Their desperate shout for democracy will spread to the world as well as Asia through us who live in a new world built on their sacrifice.

The Asia Culture Center (ACC), situated in the site of former Jeollanam-do Office, which was the last protest site of the May 18th Democratic Uprising, has been sharing the values of democracy, human rights, and peace through culture and art. The ACC hosts the 2023 ACC Democracy, Human Rights, and Peace Character Contest in order to commemorate the May 18th Democratic Uprising and spread the values of democracy, human rights, and peace all over the world beyond Asia. The 2023 ACC Democracy, Human Rights, and Peace Character Contest is a program for citizens, designed to share the values of democracy, human rights, and peace in commemoration of the May 18th Democratic Uprising. The contest has been held every year since 2018, supporting a variety of content such as digital comics, videos, posters, illustrations, and picture diaries.

Expresses a story with a character!

The prize-winning work of last year was used for the illustration of the contest poster.

This year, the theme of the contest is future-oriented bright characters and their names that symbolize the values of democracy, human rights, and peace based on the May 18th Democratic Uprising. Participants suggested their own characters showing the values of democracy, human rights, and peace of May of Gwangju based on their imagination.

People use emoticons as much as letters when texting. Sometimes you can communicate only with emoticons without any letters. It shows that characters have become more important as an online communication tool. Numerous regions and brands make their own characters to create a friendly image and to encourage more people to access their content or products. The purpose of the ACC contest is to help people of all ages easily access and understand the values of democracy, human rights, and peace and the May 18th Democratic Uprising through friendly characters.

The contest is divided into two sections: adult section and minor section. Adult section targeted those aged 19 and older, whereas minor section contest targeted those aged 18 and younger. Citizens enjoyed an interesting experience of creating their own new characters based on their imagination.

Entries are evaluated twice in terms of the five evaluation items (name, relation to theme, quality of work, popularity, and applicability). A total of 20 characters will be selected, which can arouse interest among global citizens all over the world as well as Korea and Asia. The selected characters are planned to be widely utilized for ACC projects associated with democracy, human rights, and peace such as exhibitions, training programs, exchange programs, and PR activities. The awards will be given on May 8. Awardees will be given a total of KRW 16 million as prize money along with the awards from the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the president of the ACC.

Prize-winning characters will be used for ACC May Culture Week, ACC products, and PR materials as the characters symbolizing the values of democracy, human rights, and peace. They will be also posted on ACC Media Wall, social media channels, and other PR media.

Contact Asia Culture Center Exchange & PR Division (+82-62-601-4264) or visit the website of the ACC for further details.

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