Culture City of East Asia (CCEA) 2014 Quanzhou City - Yokohama City - Gwangju Metropolitan City
Quanzhou City Gwangju Metropolitan City Yokohama City

Quanzhou, Fujian (China), Yokohama, Kanagawa (Japan), and Gwangju (Korea) carried out various exchange projects in the year as the CCEA for 2014. In November, the mayors of the three cities signed the CCEA Friendship Cooperation Cities Agreement, agreeing to continue and develop exchanges in various areas including arts and culture in the future.

Based on the agreement, the three cities continue to participate in exchange events. Each city usually hosts youth and cultural exchange programs once a year by inviting representatives from the two other partner cities. In many cases, performance groups from each city are invited to large-scale cultural events in partner cities.

November 2014: CCEA Friendship Cooperation Cities Agreement Signed, Agreeing to Continue Exchanges
As the first nominated cities of the CCEA, Quanzhou, Yokohama, and Gwangju actively held various cultural arts events throughout 2014. In November, at the CCEA 2014 Yokohama Closing Ceremony, the three cities signed the CCEA Friendship Cooperation City Agreement to maintain the friendly relations established throughout 2014 as CCEAs and to continue and deepen exchanges in areas of arts, culture, and tourism. The main points of the agreement are:

1. Promote friendship and exchange on the principle of reciprocity
2. Strive to promote people-to-people exchanges, including arts and cultural organizations, companies, and citizens
3. Strive to cooperate when conducting projects and to share mutual experiences for the development of CCEA
4. Maintain close relationship among the representatives and relevant departments of the three cities, and communicate with each other on common interests and on exchanges and cooperation.

Programs in 2015

- Main Events

Main Events
Location Activity
Yokohama August: Dance groups from Quanzhou and Gwangju participated in the Yokohama Dance Parade.
Gwangju September: Exchange Exhibition on CJK Calligraphy was held, where 23 artists from six CCEA (Quanzhou, Yokohama, Cheongju, Qingdao, and Niigata) exhibited 61 pieces of art.
Gwangju October: Quanzhou and Yokohama’s performance groups participated in the Memories of 7080 Chungjang Festival.
Quanzhou November: Yokohama and Gwangju’s performance group participated in the 14th Asia Arts Festival.

- Other Events

Other Events
Location Activity
Yokohama November: With an invitation from Gwangju and the International Women Arts Exchange Association (Korea), International Women Modern Art Forum and Art Exhibition was held in Yokohama BankART Studio NYK (one of Yokohama’s Creative Community Base)
Gwangju November to December: Exhibition to introduce BankART Studio NYK at Gwangju City Museum.
Gwangju December: Gwangju-Quanzhou Media Exchange Event was held at the Kimdaejung Convention Center. Discussions on mutual dispatching of reporters and the measures of cooperation when covering culture-related contents.

Programs in 2016

- Main Events

Main Events
Location Activity
Gwangju June: Quanzhou and Yokohama’s art troupes participated in the National Asian Culture Hall of Fame Fringe Festival.
Yokohama September: Quanzhou and Gwangju’s performance groups participated in the Yokohama Sound Festival 2016, and visited schools.
Quanzhou October: Yokohama and Gwangju’s performance group participated in the 2nd Maritime Silk Road Festival International Theater Exhibition.
  • Gwangju Art Troupe Performance in Yokohama Sound Festival 2016 (Source: Yokohama City)

- Other Events

Other Events
Location Activity
Yokohama, Gwangju January to March: Program titled, Kogane-cho x Gwangju AIR Exchange Program 2016, held by Yokohama and Gwangju for exchange of the two cities’ artists.
Gwangju July: Yokohama participated in the CCEA Architecture Forum.

Major Events in 2017:

- Main Events

Main Events
Location Activity
Gwangju June: Quanzhou and Yokohama’s performance groups participated in Gwangju Asia Culture Hall of Fame International Fringe Festival.
Yokohama August: Yokohama held the Yokohama Youth Exchange Festival, where 36 CJK high school students and teachers gathered in Yokohama, visited Yokohama Triennale 2017, and carried out exchange programs such as experiencing Japanese culture.
Quanzhou December: Performance groups from Yokohama and Gwangju participated in the 3rd Maritime Silk Road International Arts Festival.
  • Yokohama’s Performance Group in Quanzhou (Source: Yokohama City)

- Other Events

Other Events
Location Activity
Gwangju November: Quanzhou, Yokohama and past CCEA as well as academics participated in the CCEA Network Forum.

Programs in 2018

- Main Events

Main Events
Location Activity
Gwangju July: Art companies from Quanzhou and Yokohama participated in the National Hanmadang Festival held a year before the 2019 Gwangju World Swimming Championship.
Yokohama September: Art companies from Quanzhou and Gwangju performed at Dance Dance Dance @ YOKOHAMA 2018 and visited schools.
Quanzhou November: Quanzhou conducted CCEA/CJK Urban Artwork Exhibition, where artists sent from Yokohama and Gwangju performed, made artwork, and interacted on site.
  • Quanzhou’s Art Company in Yokohama (source: Yokohama City)

- Other Events

Other Events
Location Activity
Yokohama, Gwangju January to March: The two cities conducted Kogane-cho x Gwangju AIR Exchange Program 2017 [The date follows the budget year of Japan] and an exchange program where artists from Yokohama and Gwangju were dispatched to each other. [2018 Program was held from November 2018 to January 2019.]
Quanzhou February to March: Quanzhou conducted Kogane-cho x Quanzhou: Artistic City-building Program, as well as exhibitions and talk shows on “Artistic Town-building initiative in Yokohama HatsuKoHi District” at the Quanzhou Overseas Transportation History Museum.
Gwangju September: Quanzhou, Yokohama, and past CCEA participated in the CCEA Network Media Forum.

Programs in 2019

- Main Events

Main Events
Location Activity
Gwangju July: Performance groups from Quanzhou, Yokohama and Jeju (CCEA 2016) participated in the congratulatory performance at the 2019 International Swimming Federation (FINA) Gwangju World Swimming Championship.
Yokohama September: Performance groups from Quanzhou, Gwangju and Jeju participated in the Yokohama Sound Festival 2019.
Quanzhou November: Performance groups from Yokohama, Gwangju, and Jeju etc. participated in the 4th Maritime Silk Road International Arts Festival One-BeltOne-Road Arts Performance Week.
  • Yokohama Performance Group in Gwangju
  • Gwangju’s Modern Dance Group in Quanzhou

(Source: Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum)

- Other Events

Other Events
Location Activity
Yokohama January: Yokohama conducted Kogane-cho x Quanzhou Artistic City-building Program 2018, where exhibitions were held. Quanzhou sent artists.
Yokohama, Gwangju July to August: The two cities conducted Kogane-cho x Gwangju AIR Exchange Program 2019, where they mutually dispatched artists.
Gwangju October: Gwangju conducted CCEA Special Session at the 2019 Asia Cultural Forum with the theme “Space and Community, Rediscovery of Alleyways”.

Programs in 2020

- Main Events

Main Events
Location Activity
Quanzhou, Yokohama, Gwangju (held online) November to December: The three cities jointly produced a CCEA promotion video titled "Communication by Arts" and uploaded it to YouTube.
  • Opening Screen from the CCEA 2014 Joint Production Promotion Video “Communication by Arts”
    (source: Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum)

- Other Events

Other Events
Location Activity
Yokohama, Gwangju January to March: Instead of the AIR exchange program, the two cities held Gwangju × Kogane-cho Online Exchange Program. Artists have created artworks through online meetings, and held achievement exhibitions in Gwangju and Kogane-cho, respectively.

Programs in 2021

- Main Events

Main Events
Location Activity
Yokohama July to November: In Dance, Dance, Dance @ Yokohama 2021, Gwangju and Quanzhou artist groups made appearances online, and the Japan-Korea team and the China-Japan team performed original dances online and offline through online joint rehearsals.
Gwangju November: Performance videos of vocalists recommended by Quanzhou and Yokohama showcased in CJK Culture City Amateur Vocal Audition
Gwangju August to November: Quanzhou and Yokohama cooperated to create CJK CCEA tour videos that were shared in regional broadcast stations and YouTube.
  • Video participation of Japan-Korea Team’s Joint Performance in Yokohama Event
    (source: Yokohama City)

- Other Events

Other Events
Location Activity
Gwangju October: Video presentations of speakers from Quanzhou and Yokohama in the session during the Asian Culture Forum 2021
Quanzhou November to January 2022: Gwangju, Cheongju, Daegu, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hainan, Aomori, Tsushima, and Tokyo participated in video performances and photo exhibitions at the National Grand Festival.