Who are you? Do you know who you are? Really? Are you sure? This is one of the THE MOST difficult questions in our life. Just be yourself! This is the motto of IUM ACTS, which believes that each individual’s self-discovery is the core of social change. A sustainable change in society is possible only when we change the people. IUM ACTS Business Idea is simple: to Provide self-discovery art-care program. Ium spoke to i-genius about her art of creative therapy for society.

i-genius: Why did you get started with IUM ACTS?
Ium: Just be yourself! That is the motto of this business as well as my life. Before starting up this business, I had founded Life Tree, an art & culture community and creative program for young adults. Its purpose was to reach out to those with low self-esteem and guide them to find their true identity in a competitive Korean Society. I helped bring out the true self-portraits that many young adults fail to see in themselves. I came to believe that each individual’s self-discovery is the core of social change. A sustainable change in society is possible only when we change the people. I want to propagate my beliefs into society and exemplify such values through action. This is the driving force of my social enterprise and why I started IUM ACTS.

i-genius: Did any of your previous experience help prepare you for IUM ACTS?
Ium: I am an artist who majored in Sculpture. I can explain my business’s core concept by quoting Michelangelo’s famous story.

On the day Michelangelo completed his masterpiece he said,

“In every block of marble I see a statue as perfect as if it stood before me. All I had to do is to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine to see it”

IUM ACTS sculpts ‘Living Masterpieces’ out of the younger generation and allows the individual to become the true owner of his or her self. IUM ACTS uses the symbol of a person with outstretched arms and standing on stage to represent life and dreams.

i-genius: In what way is IUM acts a social enterprise?
Ium: IUM ACTS is a social enterprise with the slogan: the Art of Creative Therapy for Society. IUM ACTS’s contents integrate art, education, and creative therapy. These programs and projects serve as an artistic outlet that can help people discover their creative identities, foster human communication, and increase a sense of community in this modern competitive society.

i-genius: You attended the i-genius Asia Summit in Bangkok previously. How was this useful to you?
Ium: Personally, the most impressive lecture was 6th challenge: “Developing Networks, Partnerships and Engaging Stakeholders”. The lecture and subsequent exercise inspired me to think about creative innovation as a tool for connecting international human resources and relationships in order to carry out a social mission.

For instance, I’ve had many experiences to make elaborate art-works composed of various colors, shapes and mixed materials in the past. Like those artistic combination, the most important thing is that the network does not serve as a simple functional connection, but rather a ‘heart-to-heart’ partnership with deep emotion. At this point, I think the artist’s creative inspiration and imagination will be very useful.

i-genius: What’s been your most exciting project to date?
Ium: My most interesting project is Healing Art and Culture project for Su-Yoo traditional farmer’s markets in 2013. IUM ACTS promoted a classic concert and a healing-art program for merchants who were exhausted by the hardships of everyday life and stressed by market competition.

i-genius: What’s the future for IUM ACTS?
Ium: Currently, we have plans to promote a history-telling project as a means to reinvent modern Korean history and Korean people’s Spirit. (It contains book publishing, art exhibition, product design, education program, and musical performance). For example, we are going to make art & educational contents about the last princess, ‘Dok-hye, who was the most beloved daughter of Go-jong (*the last monarch of the Joseon Dynasty and the first emperor of the Korean Empire). She, however, lived a tragic life as a Japanese pawn during the Colonial period. She is a very symbolic figure in our tragic history.

That Colonial period was our historical shame, but I want to rediscover such historical people’s hidden truth and pure Korean spirit that lingered amidst the brokenness. I want to accomplish this by the way of creative art integrated with social entrepreneurship. I believe that healing our historical pain is one of the most important steps in the unification of North and South in the future. In my opinion, the core direction of Korean Social enterprise in the future will be related to Korean unification.

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This interview was conducted as part of the i-genius Getting Started interview series. If you would like to learn how to get started in your social business, then why not take our ‘Getting Started – Social Business Start Up’ online course with i-genius Academy. To find out more, click here!