Theme: 고래(古來): The Future of the Old Things

An Introduction of The 2nd TEDxDaehangno Event

-Theme : “고래(古來): The Future of the Old Things”
- Subtitle : The Future of the Korean Traditional Culture-‘Han(韓) Culture’

The 2nd TEDxDaehangno Conference is going to cover the ‘Han(韓) Culture’, The Korean traditional culture. We will focus on the Han(韓) Culture objectively as one of living cultures in our planet, not as a stuffed old culture in a museum. And through it, We will glimpse the current of its yesterday, today and the FUTURE.

Looking back on our history, In the name of ‘Civilization’, the ‘Culture’ stimulated the imperialism and the extreme nationalism and it reigned over the other cultures and actually, many people also were victimized. But Today, our awareness and knowledge about the ‘Cultural Diversity’ has increased and in front of the Globalism and the rise of Mass Culture, we get to respect the cultures as ways of our living life itself.

The cultural diversity as a variety and unique life ways of humanity has been called as “a common heritage of humanity” in “The Convention on The Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions” in 2005 and the awareness that we must to protect the cultural diversity is sharing globally. As ‘the species diversity’ is important in the survival and evolution of living things, ‘the cultural diversity’ is important in the survival and fruitful future of humanity.

Especially, the Han(韓) Culture is a unique case which is difficult to find in the history of humanity because it has been cumulated for about 4,000 years and continuing well. But because of the policies of Japan obliterating Korean culture and spirit during the Japanese Ruling Era (for about 40 years) and radical modernization and westernization after liberation from Japan, The Korean unique culture pulse has been cutting off from the present Korean’s heart.

Surely, heretofore, the Han(韓) Culture also has been changing affecting each other, with the outside world, by variety exchanges for its long history period. But the problem is that the recent change over 100 years in Korea is not the natural change but ‘artificial cutting off’. We can figure out the problem by imagining the case that the Hollywood Movies occupies all the movie theaters in Korea by flooding the market and stimulating special effects which stimulate the one dimensional taste of movies which put the Korean unique emotion and values in can’t be called natural change.

The culture is more meaningful as a spiritual value which is not visible than as a material value which is visible. Especially, for now, the world changing period in the society, culture, politics, economy, the spiritual value and the diversity become more important. The various spiritual values which is guaranteed by the cultural diversity can be the fruitful sources for solving the problem that is difficult to predict and possible to be caused in the future. The Culture is going to be potential fruitful energy that stimulate the creativity and innovation in the dimension of humanity.

What will the ‘Han(韓) Culture’ mean as a common heritage humanity, How will the Han(韓) Culture do a fruitful role in the cultural diversity, In the TEDxDaehangno, We will present and talk about it.

The Eun Deok Cultural Center
Daehangno
129, Wonseo-Dong, Jongro-Gu
Seoul, Seoul Teugbyeolsi, 110-280
South Korea