ANNIVERSARY How disabled artists in Korea are shattering stereotypes, inspiring changes

Jung Eun-hye, left, an artist and actor with Down syndrome, and cartoonist Jang Cha Hyun-sil, second from right, Jung's mother, tell their story through a pop-up book made by Jang Cha during the "Eunhye & I" storytelling preformance at Modu Art Theater in Seoul, Oct. 21. Courtesy of Modu Art Theater

By Park Jin-hai

• Published Nov 1, 2024 8:46 AM KST
• Updated Nov 2, 2024 12:04 PM KST

Standing on stage at the Modu Art Theater in Seoul, Jung Eun-hye, an artist and actor with developmental disabilities, powerfully delivered a line from her role in the 2022 tvN drama "Our Blues": “You bitch! You don't believe me, do you? That I'm an artist just like mom and dad! You! You abandoned me! Seven years ago!”

Addressed to her nondisabled twin sister in the drama, this line, filled with raw emotion, captivated the audience. Yet, it is her real-life ascent to this stage, marked by struggles and triumphs, that truly touches hearts.

Art has long been a powerful means of expression, and for people with disabilities in Korea, it empowers them to shatter stereotypes, rediscover their self-worth and find their rightful place within society.

Through initiatives such as the Korea Disability Arts & Culture Center, established in 2015, and the barrier-free Modu Art Theater in 2023, Korea is taking a step forward in supporting disabled artists.

Art as voice to speak to the world

"I had obsessive-compulsive disorder. My family fell apart and my mom had a stroke. (We were) completely wrecked," Jung said in front of the audience, as her mother Jang Cha Hyun-sil narrated her moments of deep despair while raising Jung, during "Eunhye & I" at Modu Art Theater, Oct. 21.

The theater, a 250-seat venue under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is the world's first theater designed with a strong focus on accessibility for people with disabilities. It has created numerous opportunities for voices often underrepresented in the arts, particularly allowing individuals with disabilities to share their own stories and perspectives.

The performance brought to life the pages of a pop-up book, created by Jang Cha, highlighting Jung's "unwelcomed birth," isolation in adolescence and, finally, the discovery of self and community through the act of drawing caricatures.

Jung is a highly accomplished artist. She not only creates art with a community of 30 young people in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, but also actively exhibits her works both domestically and internationally. This year alone, she has showcased her art in galleries in New York and São Paulo and held a book launch event and exhibition in Taiwan after her book "Your Face," a picture book of people's faces, was translated into Taiwanese.

Her mother, Jang Cha, said that it is something she never imagined 10 years ago. Despite all her efforts and the money she spent on her daughter's education — which she estimated could be enough to buy a house — when Jung turned 20, she shut herself away from the world and developed scopophobia, schizophrenia and tic disorder.

"I did all these, in the hopes of giving Jung a bright future when she becomes an adult. But she grew into an adult and had nowhere to go in this society. One day, I saw my daughter’s phone bill, and her usage fee was printed as zero. It meant that my daughter had not called anyone and no one had called her. Thinking about how a young person in their 20s could have such an existence, I clutched my chest and wept," she said.

The breakthrough came when Jung started to draw caricature sketches of visitors at the Munhori River Market in Yangpyeong in 2016. As of now, she has drawn over 5,000 faces of people she met.

"People with developmental disabilities may struggle with verbal communication, but I believe they have a strong desire to connect with others. My daughter uses her paintings as a voice, sharing herself with the world. Seeing people respond to her art with enthusiasm, my daughter seemed to find acceptance and finally feel good about herself," Jang Cha said.

"Drawn to the joy of creating comics, I embarked on a career as a cartoonist. Yet, the constant worry of making a living often overshadowed the impact of art. Through my daughter, I was reminded of art's true healing power."

Turning pain into laughter

Lee Seong-su and Jang Geun-young, two visually impaired masseurs, channel their shared experiences with discrimination into “Seongsu and Geunyoung's 'funious' (funny and sad at the same time) microphone: Fly, surfboard” at the Modu Art Center by turning their pain into laughter.

The duo jokingly say they are not blind enough to belong to the blind group, with older visually impaired people saying things like "Back in the day, when I could see as much as you can ... "

Jang, severely visually impaired since her 20s, shared an upsetting experience where someone made a comment about her appearance after learning she is visually impaired.

"The person said unwittingly, 'Oh, there are even pretty people among the visually impaired these days,' which was intended as a compliment. When I see people casually saying things like that, I wonder, 'What does it mean to look like a visually impaired person?'” she said.

They confessed that even though it is easy to say that having a disability is about being different, and does not mean that they are lesser persons, it has been very hard to have self-confidence about themselves. And this was where art played a critical function.

"Engaging in artistic creation, we've discovered we can do something that others value. Acting on stages and seeing others listen to our voices greatly enhanced my self-worth and gave me a strong sense of purpose," Lee said. Even with a progressive glaucoma diagnosis that could result in total blindness, he has dedicated the past 10 years to his career as a stage actor.

Jang highlighted the importance of having people with disabilities involved in various fields, even if it's not specifically disability art.

"I believe that continuous interaction between people with and without disabilities is necessary to deepen understanding. So I try to be involved in cultural activities as much as possible either as an audience or a performer. Honestly, I believe the presence of a person with a disability like me can make a significant difference in the future," she said.

What needs to be done

Pete Sparkes, artistic director of Drake Music Scotland, visited Korea to teach technological skills to disabled musicians and educators, training them on how to use the notation “Figurenotes” system, a visually intuitive system that allows for creating music on smartphones, tablets and iPads. Sparkes stressed that the whole society should work as a team to give "wider access" to all people.

"Inclusion doesn't mean inviting people to come and be part of something that is not accessible to them. It means making what you do broader, wider and more accessible. And that means changing it," he said.

"If you stand at the top of the steps and say come into somebody in a wheelchair, that doesn't make any difference. You have to say maybe we could have a lift just at the side of the steps. Maybe the steps could be a ramp. If the ramp is nice and shallow then everybody can come in."

Sparkes introduced the "digital orchestra" his company made in 2016, in which iPads become instruments of an orchestra.

"We need to be a good team and help all disabled people. Most people will become disabled, maybe in their later life as an older person or maybe because of an accident. Anything can happen at any point, so it is all good for us to make our society more disabled-friendly," he said.

Modu Art Theater's General Manager Oh Se-hyeong says the emergence of people with disabilities as creators and cultural producers is a "true barometer of our society."

For a long time, society has viewed people with disabilities as burdens, incapable of contributing meaningfully due to their perceived inability to perform eight-hour workdays. By creating a supportive environment for these artists — providing them with access to art education and the resources they need — they can produce works that redefine our understanding of labor and value.

"Asking people with disabilities to share their stories through art and these stories resonating with the public and spreading, it signifies that we are moving toward a more mature and inclusive society. For too long, the message to people with disabilities has been to simply 'get by' and maintain their well-being. Now, we are asking them to share their experiences and perspectives, which can be a powerful force for social change," Oh said.