Resistance to Regional Decline: The Art Village Project in Rural Korea: Embodying Necropolitics

Abstract

South Korea is confronting a deepening crisis of regional decline, with many small towns experiencing population loss, demographic aging, and economic stagnation. In response, cultural and artistic interventions have emerged as alternative strategies for local revitalization. This article examines the Art Village Project in Gyechon, Pyeongchang County, which has developed over more than a decade through classical music education, the annual Gyechon Classical Music Festival, and a series of spatial development initiatives. The project has redefined the village as a cultural destination, attracting thousands of visitors each year and fostering collaboration among residents, artists, and institutions. By staging performances in everyday settings and linking cultural programming with physical transformation, Gyechon has been repositioned as a performative landscape that encourages participation, placemaking, and community resilience. The findings suggest that the Art Village Project has reshaped the village’s public image, expanded its functional population, and mobilised investment from both public authorities and private enterprises. At the same time, the case highlights the challenges of sustaining culture-led development under conditions of rural depopulation. Ultimately, Gyechon demonstrates how art, when embedded in community life and local space, can resist regional extinction and reimagine the future of small towns in Korea.