Revival of the Art Olympics ''Artpiad'' Reimagines the Value of Human Cultural Heritage

The UNESCO-affiliated International Association of Art (IAA-AIAP, World President Lee Gwang-su) successfully held the "2025 IAA-AIAP Executive Committee Seoul General Assembly" at COEX Conference Room, Seoul (October 30, 2025, 14:00-19:00). The second international executive committee meeting (following the 2024 Seoul General Assembly), organized by IAA KOREA. Attendees: France, Germany, Poland, US, Costa Rica representatives physically present; UK, Sweden, Serbia, Latvia, Mexico online; Africa, Arab, and Asia-Pacific regions by proxy. Key agenda: Artpiad — new name for the Art Olympics ("Artpiad" meaning art + olympiad); World Visual Artists'' Day event; AAC-IAA cooperation framework; funding and fairness; national/continental/world competition structure; participant and artist support policies; content distribution strategy. IAA Planning Committee Chair Kim Jong-wook (KBS Art Vision President): "Art is humanity''s common language transcending borders; IAA must serve as the public platform sharing that language with the world; Artpiad will combine artistic professionalism with public accessibility, presenting a new paradigm for the next-generation art ecosystem." Kim emphasized: "IAA must become the international cooperation hub for AI, digital art, and media art convergence; art must develop as public assets leading humanity''s sustainable future." The broader significance: Artpiad represents an attempt to create a globally recognized cultural event for visual arts comparable to the Olympics'' role in sports — with the organizational challenge of creating fair international competition across vastly different artistic traditions, economic conditions, and cultural contexts.