Exhibition to show Gangwon lifestyle ahead of PyeongChang Olympics
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Stuffed squid modeled after chef Lee Jong-guk's food / Courtesy of National Folk Museum of Korea
By Yun Suh-young
The government will showcase an exhibition on the food and natural scenery of Gangwon Province as a promotional event ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics next February. PyeongChang is a county located in Gangwon Province where the Winter Games will take place.
The exhibition themed "A Joy of Spring: Scenery, Blossom and Delicacy" will be held at the National Folk Museum of Korea from April 15 to June 20. The event is organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation.
"We tried to provide content about food and lifestyle by converging food, folk artifacts, crafts and visual arts. We wanted to portray the authenticity of Korean food through this exhibition," said Choi Bong-hyun, president of the Korea Crafts & Design Foundation (KCDF), during a press conference, Wednesday.
The exhibition is divided into three sections _ mountains, flowers and food. The space is not large and craftwork is displayed compactly. From paintings by artists to foods modeled after chef Lee Jong-guk's work to folk artifacts from the past, the exhibition tries to show how the people of Gangwon Province eat and live.
"In the mountains section, we displayed the dining tables of those living in the mountains. In the blossom section, we displayed multimedia images of spring. In the food section, we have models of Chef Lee's dishes such as buckwheat rolls, cabbage pancakes, buckwheat noodles, potato cakes, stuffed squid and fermented dried pollack. We tried our best to bring out the characteristics of Gangwon Province through objects used inside the kitchen," said Park Yeo-sook, general director of the exhibition.
"We have been experimenting variously with folk artifacts and craftwork. We connected this exhibition with the theme of spring because we want visitors to feel as if they're on a spring picnic. We wanted our visitors to feel the spring of Gangwon Province," said Ki Yang, head of the Exhibition Division at the National Folk Museum of Korea.
The exhibitors collaborated with Chef Lee whose restaurant Gotgan on Yeouido recently received two Michelin stars in the first Seoul edition of the restaurant guide released last November. Lee created the food for what was to be modeled into plastic food figures.
"I used to think food from Gangwon Province wasn't tasty or authentic. But I now think Gangwon food is good for health and is really pure. It's good food. They don't use strong sauces. I think Gangwon food can be shared globally," Lee said.
"Good food is one thing that carries the ambiance of the air and the scenery of its environment. It's food that can deliver the heart. I hope the food in Gangwon gets better known, not just for the purpose of promoting the Olympics."
Admission for the exhibition is free. At the moment, there is a lack of supplementary explanations in English but the museum said it will work on adding English signs.