Past Festivals

Seoul 2019

Inclusive City

How can cities be a place for all, where individuals from different backgrounds and contexts can participate positively and productively to the opportunities provided by the city?

This year’s Unusual Suspects is happening again in Seoul City on 12-14th December. Following on from the previous Unusual Suspects festival in South Korea, this year the theme is “inclusive city.” How can cities be a place for all, where individuals from different backgrounds and contexts can participate positively and productively to the opportunities provided by the city, regardless of level of income, identity, sex, age, race or religion?

This year’s Unusual Suspects Festival in Seoul will explore how the city can become more inclusive, a place where individuals and communities thrive and participate based on values of equality and empathy to each other. Specifically, the festival will focus on the following themes:

Places and infrastructure

There has been significant debate in Korea in shifting care and support of vulnerable people (such as people with mental health issues) from institutions to community-based settings. In the social housing arena, in particular, more awareness has been raised for “supportive housing” models. How can we create an inclusive model that provides care and support for vulnerable people within our community?

Gender equal society

For the past 2-3 years, #MeToo movement has swept the world. In Korea, there are active discussions on gender equality and what it takes to create a society where we all have rights to be safe and realise our goals regardless of sex and traditional gender roles.

Diversity and migration

In a global society, the physical boundaries of a nation-state is getting blurrier. Korea is becoming more and more multicultural and multi-ethnic, and this trend will continue. We will explore our sensibilities and awareness of diversity.

Coexisting community and lived experiences

We will explore “inclusive city” as a theme that embraces different lived experiences of people in the city, especially people who are vulnerable and hidden from our society. We hope to find the meaning of inclusive city based on mutual relationship and responsibility we have to each other.