Global Art Festival with the Developmentally Disabled and the Non-disabled 2025 International Special Music & Art Festival opens at Seoul National University on the 7th
Aug 07, 2025
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This festival is the world's only culture and art festival for developmentally disabled artists around the world express their own artistic talents through music and art, and domestic mentors and volunteers combine to create beautiful music and art.
The "2025 International Special Music & Art Festival" began with a joint performance by disabled and non-disabled artists at the 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games as an evening cultural Olympics program. It was held every August and marks the 13th anniversary this year.
The festival will feature high-quality performances and experience programs held every evening, including opening and closing concerts, daily concerts, piano concerts, music and art classes, master classes, green frame photo exhibitions, art classes, cultural experience programs, and mini-special Olympics.
During the festival, a variety of performances are held every evening. The opening ceremony (7th) is a classical performance by artists and mentors with developmental disabilities, Daily Concert 1 (8th) is a stage performed by famous Korean artists such as singer Stella Jang and dancer Poppin Hyun-jun, and Daily Concert 2 (9th) is a stage for participants with developmental disabilities in the classical and pop genres, and pop director Lim Baek-cheon will also make a special appearance. The closing performance (10th) will feature both pop bands and classical orchestras who worked together during the festival to make a spectacular finale.
On the other hand, in 'Green Frame Photo Exhibition' and 'Art Class Special Exhibition', participants with developmental disabilities can visually experience their art world and emotions through their own photographs and creations.
Special Olympics Korea Chairman Chung Yang-seok said, "This festival is not just an art event, but a place to realize the value of true inclusion and empathy. I hope it will be a festival where everyone will be the main character regardless of whether they have a disability or not."
Na Kyung-won, chairman of the organizing committee and member of the International Special Music & Art Festival, said, `I feel new. It is touching to see our developmental disability artists, who have grown up at the festival 13 years later, working as professional performers. I look forward to discovering and growing another star artist at this festival."
Details can be found on the official website of Special Olympics Korea and Instagram.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
