Mapo Central Library, a district-run library in Mapo-gu, will offer a humanities and arts program for middle-aged residents every Wednesday from Aug. 19 through Sept. 16, district mayor Yoo Dong-gyun announced.
The program was selected through an open call for the "Kkumdarak Cultural Arts School," a life-stage arts education support project run by the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service.
Mapo Central Library expanded the Kkumdarak program — previously focused on children — to include residents in their 40s through 60s, organizing sessions around four themes: water, breath, temperature and soil.
The five-session course will be led by instructors from Yamji Yamji, an arts-mediation platform that connects everyday life with artistic expression.
Participants will first explore nature through picture books, then head outdoors to listen to the sounds of the natural environment and engage their senses by touching plants and other natural materials.
They will then express what they observed and felt through watercolor painting, writing and collage, gaining a fresh perspective on the living world around them and on their own lives.
The program is open to Mapo-gu residents between the ages of 40 and 64. A total of 40 participants will be recruited — 20 for a morning session and 20 for an afternoon session. Participation is free.
Registration is available on a first-come, first-served basis through the Mapo Central Library website. Those with questions may contact the library directly.
In October, the library plans to hold a showcase bringing together works by middle-aged participants alongside pieces by children who took part in related pop-up card and picture-book workshops, sharing ecological stories seen through the eyes of different generations with the wider community.
"New experiences and learning during the many life changes of middle age are an important catalyst for bringing vitality to everyday life," district mayor Yoo said. "We will do our best to make the library not just a place to borrow books, but a living space where residents can learn and grow together."
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