K-Arts Hosts the 18^th APB Directors’ Meeting

Celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the School of Drama’s establishment, the K-Arts presided over the 18^th Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools (APB) Directors’ Meeting on the Seokgwan campus from 27 to 28 September. The representatives of 15 theatre institutions from 12 countries joined to discuss the present and future of theatre education. Prof. Kim Mihee of the School of Drama has been the APB vice president since 2023.

The APB is an organization co-founded in 2008 by 16 theatre schools in the Asia-Pacific region. The 28 schools from 17 countries are current members. In pursuit of advancing theatre education in the Asia-Pacific area, the member schools engage in exchanges by various means, sharing teaching methodologies and accomplishments or encouraging their students to present performances.

The participants were as follows: K-Arts (host, South Korea), Shanghai Theatre Academy (China), National School of Drama India (India), Kyoto University of Art and Design (Japan), Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music (Japan), Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (Hong Kong), LASALLE College of Arts (Singapore), Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture (Mongolia), Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (Philippines), University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia), Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), University of Wollongong (Australia), West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Australia), Hoseo University (South Korea).

The theme of the event was “theatre education and environment.” The participants sought together ways to carry out sustainable development in environmental and ecological matters through theatre education. The APB member schools also shared their educational accomplishments to discuss further cooperation.