KAIST and Daejeon Culture and Arts Foundation (DCAF) have signed a collaboration agreement to establish an interdisciplinary research center. The center, known as C-Arts Lab, aims to develop culture technologies and content that sustain and further develop Daejeon city’s cultural uniqueness and prominence.

Starting this June, the interdisciplinary research center will proceed collaborative works with four laboratories at KAIST’s Graduate School of Culture and Technology (GSCT). Major fields of collaboration include cultural phenomena, visual content technology, music technology, and interactive technology.

The capital “C” in C-Arts Lab stands for creativeness, convergence, culture, and city. The name encompasses creativity, convergence, culture, and city under the concept of art. The center lays out a plan to take advantage of the abundance of science and technology institutions in the city of Daejeon to foster interdisciplinary work between art, cultural study, science, and technology.

The formal agreement for the center was signed on May 14, but the parental campaign that laid the groundwork for the center dates back to earlier this year. The campaign, known as “Creative Art Education Lab” was proposed in February for the research and development of cultural education content to spur urban renewal and enrichment of urban culture.

These contents aim to overcome the limitations of conventional cultural education led by a single instructor by utilizing various regional cultural resources. When it was first introduced, the campaign announced a proposal to launch an interdisciplinary research center named “C-Arts Lab.” DCAF plans to achieve the integration of science and art and develop the education of social design that brings public value to the city.

In addition, KAIST and Daejeon have made joint efforts to promote culture technology and art contents developed at KAIST to the public and to emphasize cultural and artistic influence of the institution. During last year’s Daejeon Biennale, the KAIST Vision Hall hosted the exhibition “Another Gaze”, which presented works by researchers and graduate students at GSCT.

In regards to the C-Arts Lab, the Chair of the DCAF board remarked, “[DCAF] will make an all-out effort to develop creative contents unique to the city by deploying cultural and art resources.”