[ASK-Y] Session 4: Why Can't We Understand Each Other?

The New Disruptors: Culture and Media

November 22, 2021 — Following our previous session, "Why is the Earth Sick? | The New Disruptors: Climate and Environment," Asia Society Korea held the the fourth session of our Asia Society Korea Youth (ASK-Y) program on culture, entertainment, and media. The session was hosted by Asia Society Korea Executive Director Yvonne Kim, with Bernie Cho, President of DFSB Kollective, Dr. Amareswar Galla, UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development at Anant University, and Shinwha Hong, Researcher at the Center for Intangible Culture Studies (CICS), as guest speakers.

Moderated by Dylan Goh, a Bachelor of Commerce / Design at the University of New South Wales, and Claudine Ukubereyimfura, MA Candidate in China Studies at Beijing University, the discussion session was titled "Why Can't We Understand Each Other? | The New Disruptors: Culture and Media" as the panel probed culture as a moderating lens for relating to society and the world, and our behavior as individuals and nation-states.

Through the lived experiences of global emerging leaders and industry experts across the cultural heritage and the entertainment domains, the ASK-Y panel explores everything from the cultural success of BTS to the universality of ancestor worship to the power of intangible cultural heritage, spotlighting the unique role of youth as bridge builders for cultural exchanges and the importance of deep cultural empathy in cultivating global citizens.

Bernie Cho, President of DFSB Kollective

Bernie Cho is the President of DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based Artist & Label Services agency that specializes in providing digital media, marketing, and distribution solutions to 600+ Korean Pop music artists. As more K-Pop acts aspire to go independent and international, DFSB Kollective collaborates with artists and their management companies to devise customized strategies that directly connect them to their local and global fans.

Since 2009, the agency has successfully produced numerous K-Pop concerts and showcases in North America, Asia, and Europe as well as secured #1 Apple iTunes Music chart debuts for various K-Pop albums in the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, Australasia, and Europe. In order to raise the recognition of Korean music internationally, DFSB Kollective is a member of Merlin Network (global digital music rights agency for world's leading independent labels) and an official Korean content provider for Apple iTunes Music, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube Music, Deezer, Pandora, iHeart Radio, Facebook, TikTok, Tencent Music Entertainment, NetEase Cloud Music, KKBox, AWA, JioSaavn, Boomplay, Anghami, and Yandex. As one of the first and foremost K-Pop music exporters, DFSB Kollective and its artists have been featured speakers/performers at top international music industry events (CMJ, CMW, SXSW, Coachella, The Great Escape, Glastonbury, Summer Sonic, Music Matters, MusicBiz, MIDEM) and profiled in leading international media outlets (BBC, Billboard, Bloomberg, CNN, Discovery, E!, Forbes, Monocle, MTV, Musically, Newsweek, New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Spin, Time, YouTube Originals, Wall Street Journal).

Prior to founding DFSB Kollective, Bernie served as the Head of MTV Korea’s Digital Media Production and worked for nearly 2 decades in the Korean music TV industry as a Creative Planner, Program Producer, and Show Host. He has earned a BA from Dartmouth College in Government/Asian Studies and has graduated from the UCLA Anderson School of Management (Executive Entertainment & Media Program) and the Vancouver Film School (Foundation Film Program).

Watch his appearance in Asia Society Korea's special webcast titled "B TS and Beyond."

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Prof. Amareswar Galla, UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development, Anant University

An alumnus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi with PhD from the Australian National University, Canberra, Dr. Amareswar Galla is currently Professor of Inclusive Cultural Leadership and Founding Director of the International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership (ICICL); and Dean of Faculty Development and Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad, India. He is the Founding Executive Director of the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum, Australia/India/USA and Emeritus Faculty, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Until recently he was a Visiting Professor at the School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, a National Institution of Importance, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India. He lived and worked as the Chief Curator in Amaravathi Heritage Town and its Amaravathi Heritage Centre and Museum. He was the Editor and Producer of the flagship project and publication to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the 1972 World Heritage Convention launched in Kyoto, Japan.

In the past two decades, Amar has been the full Professor of the World Heritage and Sustainable Development at the University of Split located in the World Heritage City of Split; first full Professor of Museum Studies in Australia at the University of Queensland, Brisbane; and prior to that he was the full Professor and Director of Sustainable Heritage Development Programs, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. He has held prestigious visitorships at several institutions in the past including the Smithsonian and more recently as the Honorary Professor at the Global Change Institute, the University of Queensland

In the past he was also a regular visitor at the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, working on the implementation of Museums and Cultural Diversity Promotion in the Netherlands; Guest Curator of International Projects with the Vietnam National Department of Cultural Heritage; and Founding Convener of the Pacific Asia Observatory for Cultural Diversity in Sustainable Heritage Development in partnership with several bodies including UNESCO. It is now subsumed into the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum.

A Trustee of the Pacific Islands Museums Association, he is the founding Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of the Inclusive Museum (2008-cont.); Founding Editor International Journal on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability (2005- Oct 2015); Co-founder and former Editor-in-Chief of International Journal on Intangible Heritage; and Founding Editor of the International Journal of Tourism and Leisure Studies (2016-cont.). His extensive publication record includes World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders, Cambridge University Press and Heritage Curricula and Cultural Diversity, Prime Minister & Cabinet, Australia.

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Shinwha Hong, Researcher, Center for Intangible Culture Studies (CICS)

Shinwha Hong is a researcher at the CICS and an International Manager of NSiGlobal Secretariat of the Jeonju International Awards for Intangible Cultural Heritage. He studied at the University of Massachusetts Boston as an English major and started his current position of international affairs manager at CICS in 2018. Since then, Shinwha has been involved in a series of international projects involving cultural heritage, more specifically Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH).

Previously, he was project manager of the Asia Culture Center’s Cultural ODA in Myanmar, where he worked with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture (Myanmar) and collaborated in building the MCHMS (Myanmar Cultural Heritage Management System). With his help through the NSiGlobal, Redi and Asia Culture Center of Korea, researchers and experts in Myanmar have inventoried over 18,000 tangible and intangible cultural heritage data. His upcoming projects with the Cultural ODA through NSiGlobal include those in Kyrgyzstan and Laos scheduled for 2022.

He is the International Manager of the Jeonju ICH Awards, which is the only award in the world that recognizes international ICH safeguarding activities. As part of the Secretariat, he served the City of Jeonju and the international community with heritage preservation efforts.

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