In 2023, the PharmaResearch Culture Foundation was selected by the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service (KACES) to develop and pilot its Arts Healing in Urban Forests program model, through which it introduced 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥. Developed in collaboration with the Dabom Human Rights Center, the program was presented as part of the Gangneung International Art Festival 2023(GIAF23).
The program was held in Okgye Village and the National Daegwallyeong Healing Forest with children and youth from Ieul School in Okgye-myeon, Gangneung, as well as young people from migrant backgrounds attending the Gangneung Haeram Middle School KSL(Korean as a Second Language). Through sensory practices and performances inspired by the themes of "Snake," "Water," and "Bird," participants were invited to experience the world through the eyes of nonhuman life and to explore ways of living together through the inseparable relationship between humans and nonhuman beings.
This artistic exploration continued during the Gangneung International Art Festival 2025(GIAF25) through the Alternative School trial program 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥. Students from the sixth-grade Co-siu Mo-siu class at Gangneung Unyang Elementary School created masks inspired by rescued dogs and visited YUN Suknam's 1,025: 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴, installed in the courtyard of the Dongheon(Magistrate’s Office) Hall at the Gangneung-Daedohobu Government Office. They then engaged with festival visitors through a performance that moved across the festival venues, sharing messages about the coexistence of humans and animals.
