To bridge the gap in cultural enjoyment

Cultural enjoyment extends beyond the mere act of watching performances or exhibitions. Individuals undergo a process of experiencing and understanding diverse cultures, and making their own choices. The government provides opportunities to the public by expanding cultural facilities and subsidizing admission costs. However, improving physical accessibility alone does not guarantee substantive cultural enjoyment. This is because interest in and taste for culture and the arts are formed through education and experience during the process of growth.

Individuals who lacked opportunities to engage with the arts during childhood and adolescence struggle to choose new cultural experiences even after becoming adults. Schools are important public spaces that provide students with diverse artistic experiences, regardless of their family background. The School Arts Instructor Support Program helps students experience genres they would not normally encounter and discover their tastes. It is a foundational policy for realizing the basic right to culture.

Recently, the financial burden on the central government has decreased while that on education offices has increased in the school arts instructor support program. There is a high risk that this will lead to disparities in arts education opportunities depending on regional educational financial conditions. Meanwhile, the Youth Culture and Arts Pass alleviates the financial burden of viewing for young people. However, if only a pass is provided to those with limited cultural and artistic experience, there is a high likelihood that subsidies will be concentrated on consuming familiar genres.

The performance of cultural policy should not be evaluated solely on the number of beneficiaries and budget execution rates. Policies must be designed to enable citizens to understand diverse cultures, actively choose them, and participate in them. Diverse artistic experiences should be provided during childhood and adolescence, support should be provided for young adults to explore culture independently, and continuous activities should be guaranteed from adulthood onward. A policy framework connected across the life cycle is necessary.

The fundamental right to culture does not stop at supporting access to cultural facilities or admission costs. We must consider the conditions that enable individuals to participate in cultural life proactively. School arts education and the Youth Culture & Arts Pass are policies that must complement each other. Future cultural policies must move beyond simply expanding the scale of support to establish a system that connects first experiences in childhood with continued enjoyment in adulthood. It is crucial to have policies that gently nudge the public, encouraging them to discover the culture they desire on their own.