UNESCO Creative City of Music Daegu Global Forum 2023

Daegu hosted the “2023 UNESCO Creative City of Music Daegu Global Forum” on November 9th for two days, aimed at building partnerships between UNESCO Creative Cities. Since joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in October 2017, Daegu has been leading annual international forums and performances, with this year’s theme being “Climate Action and Roles of UNESCO Creative Cities”, featuring expert sessions, a case presentation by Creative Cities officials, an opera gala performance, and a cultural tour of Bokseong-ro.

This year, participants included former IPCC Chair Lee Hoe-sung, Dang Quang Tu, Mayor of the newly joined Vietnamese Creative City of Music, Dalat, and Daniele Vimini, Deputy Mayor of Pesaro, Italy, along with officials and experts from eight other international UNESCO Creative Cities, and officials from eight Korean UNESCO Creative Cities.

The event focused on the global issue of the “Climate Crisis,” in light of the rapidly changing climate and resulting extreme weather events such as severe droughts and major floods. It served as a forum for UNESCO Creative Cities to collectively discuss and publicize ideas, centering around “Climate Action and the Role of UNESCO Creative Cities”, with expert presentations, case studies from Creative Cities officials, and panel discussions.

This forum kicked off with a special performance by “HOOLA”, which decorated the stage alongside the audience using upcycling instruments made from various items and tools from Bukseong-ro. The show featured meaningful performances using instruments crafted from recycled materials such as pipe organs and shampoo bottle synthesizers, centered around the theme of climate crisis.

Later in the event, there was a special opera gala performance commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Daegu International Opera Festival. It featured selected music from Mozart’s famous opera “The Magic Flute,” adapted to resonate with climate action and environmental awareness. The performance incorporated recycled and upcycled costumes in collaboration with Daegu designer Kim Kunee, and showcased media art by Federico Pereanez, an artist from London, Canada, a Creative City of Music.

On the second day, November 10th, a session was held to explore concrete and realistic approaches for collaboration between UNESCO Creative Cities. It included meetings between international UNESCO Creative City of Music officials and Korean Creative City representatives to discuss practical collaborative projects. Additionally, the Bukseong-ro Cultural Tour featured various performances by local artists representing Daegu, a Creative City of Music, along with tours of major tourist spots such as the historic houses of Lee Sang-hwa/Seo Sang-don and attendance at the 20th Daegu International Opera Festival Opera Awards.

Through this forum, Daegu shared knowledge and experiences with global Creative Cities and experts in responding to the climate crisis, discussing policy directions accordingly. Aspiring for climate solutions to be a successful gateway to solving numerous environmental problems, Daegu hopes for solidarity and efforts in climate action and global cooperation among the worldwide UNESCO Creative Cities.