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Kwon Mee-yoo

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.

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Arts & Theater

Tim Eitel explores solitude of contemporary people

Installation view of Tim Eitel exhibition "Untitled (2001-2020)" at Daegu Art Museum / Courtesy of Daegu Art MuseumBy Kwon Mee-yooDAEGU ― The Daegu Art Museum is exhibiting works by the German artist Tim Eitel that capture the solitude and anxiety of modern people at a time when the southeastern city's art scene is waking up after being an epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic here earlier this year.Touted as a prominent member of the New Leipzig School, Eitel portrays easily overlooked people and spaces in daily life. The "Untitled (2001-2020)" exhibition features some 70 of Eitel's paintings, which are displayed throughout the museum's 11 galleries.This is the largest solo exhibition for the German artist, who could not visit Korea due to the coronavirus outbreak. Instead, he watched the installation process on video calls and left a video message for his Korean audience. "It was an interesting experience to plan and install the show already knowing that I couldn't physically be there. But I think it worked out really well also with the installation. We video conferenced and I got a

Aug 8, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Tim Eitel explores solitude of contemporary people
Arts & Theater

Artists seek post COVID-19 new normal

Oh Jung-hyang's “A Whole New Routine” on display at "New Communion" exhibition at Daegu Art Museum. Courtesy of Daegu Art MuseumDaegu Art Museum offers consolation for pandemicBy Kwon Mee-yooDAEGU ― Daegu was one of the regions in Korea the most severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic as it was the epicenter of the first large COVID-19 outbreak outside China, in February. At its peak, over 1,000 confirmed cases were reported daily and patients had to wait for hospital beds.As the city tried to get back on a path to a “new normal” life with social distancing, the Daegu Art Museum organized an exhibition to console its citizens and look for this new normal after COVID-19.Titled "New Communion," the exhibit seeks to document the pandemic that swept the city, while exploring the meaning of solidarity in a broader sense as people fight the infectious disease together. Photographer Jang Yong-geun, who is working on his Urban Archive Project, captured people through thermal imaging camera in his latest series "37.5˚C." The temperature refers to the benchmark body te

Aug 8, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Artists seek post COVID-19 new normal
K-pop

Traditional music broadens horizon with K-pop

By Kwon Mee-yooThe vocalization of a cryptic phrase "Myeonggeumilha Daechwita” starts off "Daechwita," a song released by Suga of BTS, known as Agust D for this release, in May. The expression, which means, “Ring a gong once to begin Daechitwa,” is used to commence “Daechwita" ― a Korean style of traditional military band music.Though now better known across the globe as the title of the K-pop sensation's solo release, which marked over 117 million views on YouTube in just over two months, the history of the original Daechwita goes back to the ancient Three Kingdoms era in the fourth century, before Korea was even Korea. The voice shouting "Myeonggeumilha daechwita" in the opening of Agust D's song belongs to Chung Jae-kuk, the only practitioner of Intangible Cultural Property No. 46, Piri Jeongak and Daechwita. Chung, who worked as the artistic director of the National Gugak Center Orchestra, recorded the 1984 version of Daechwita sampled in Agust D's namesake song.According to Suga's agency, the K-pop singer listened to a variety of recorded versions of Daec

Aug 6, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Traditional music broadens horizon with K-pop
Travel & Food

Myung Won Cultural Foundation offers 'K-Tea' Festival

This undated photo shows the 2019 Myung Won World Tea Expo held at COEX in southern Seoul last August. The 2020 edition of the expo runs through Sunday at COEX. Courtesy of Myung Won Cultural FoundationBy Kwon Mee-yooKim Eui-jung, Myung Won Cultural Foundation director / Courtesy of Myung Won Cultural FoundationThe 2020 Myung Won World Tea Expo, also known as the K-Tea Festival, runs through Sunday at COEX in southern Seoul. The event, hosted by the Myung Won Cultural Foundation for 25 years, offers a variety of Korean and overseas tea brands and opportunities to experience Korea's traditional tea.This year's festival also commemorates the 100th birthday of the late Kim Mi-hee, founder of the Myung Won Cultural Foundation and wife of Ssangyong Group founder Kim Sung-gon.Kim blazed the trail in restoring Korea's traditional tea culture from the 1970s. In 1979, she held the first academic conference on Korea's traditional tea and held a presentation on traditional tea ceremonies in 1980. Kim was awarded with the Bogwan Order of Culture Merit posthumously in 2000 in recognition of her w

Aug 6, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Myung Won Cultural Foundation offers 'K-Tea' Festival
Arts & Theater

Korea's modern art history explained at MMCA

Installation view of "Artists in Their Times: Korean Moden and Contemporary Art" at Museum of Modern and Contermporary Art, Gwacheon / Courtesy of MMCABy Kwon Mee-yooThe National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) has opened a comprehensive exhibition on Korea's modern art history. Titled "Artists in Their Times: Korean Modern and Contemporary Art," the exhibition is an accompaniment to the museum's publication “MMCA Collection 300" released last year, and an upcoming book "Introduction to Korean Art," giving expositions on the 120 year history of modern art in Korea."MMCA has been collecting and preserving important artwork and archival materials exemplifying Korea's art history. This exhibition will provide an opportunity to take a step closer to Korea's modern and contemporary art and understand Korean art in relation to the times," MMCA director Youn Bum-mo said in a statement.The exhibit presents some of the key works in the country's art history through historic and social contexts in the collection of nation's flagship art museum. Some 300 works from its collec

Aug 5, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Korea's modern art history explained at MMCA
Arts & Theater

Korean musical 'Ludwig' makes way to China

A scene from the Korean musical "Ludwig: Beethoven the Piano" / Courtesy of Gwasuwon Musical CompanyBy Kwon Mee-yooThe musical "Ludwig: Beethoven the Piano," a Korean musical revolving around the renowned German composer, has become Korea's latest cultural export to China. A licensed Chinese production of the musical will be staged in Shanghai in December. The Korean musical, premiered in 2018, portrays Ludwig van Beethoven's life as a musician and his conflict with nephew Karl, whom Ludwig wants to raise into a musician. The year 2020 celebrates the 250th anniversary of the classical music composer and "Ludwig" presents its third production in Korea at the Daehangno TOM Theater, Hall 1, until Sept. 27. This production focuses on the strife between Ludwig and Karl, who wants to be a soldier but has to follow Ludwig's dream instead of his own.The musical features three different actors to portray different stages of Ludwig's life. From a child actor and a young Ludwig to the elderly Ludwig who recollects his life, the musical shows various aspects of the composer's life.As Ludwig suff

Aug 3, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Korean musical 'Ludwig' makes way to China
Arts & Theater

3 artists explore new horizons of abstract art

Installation view of “Hangover Boogie” exhibition featuring works by Chris Succo at Leeahn Gallery Daegu / Courtesy of Leeahn GalleryBy Kwon Mee-yooDAEGU ― Leeahn Gallery, operated by collector-turned-gallerist Ahn Hye-ryung, presents three European artists ― Chris Succo, Megan Rooney and Ina Gerken ― who developed their own abstract world at its Daegu branch.The gallery said the exhibition is held in cooperation with German art historian and curator Gregor Jansen, who serves as the director of the Kunsthalle Dusseldorf. Jansen recommended 10 young, aspiring European artists to Leeahn Gallery and Ahn picked three among them. The title of the exhibit, suggested by Jansen, is derived from the common elements of the three artists ― how they put energy into their works like turbulent music and continuing the tradition of early lyrical abstraction. While the beginning of modern abstract art is often contributed to Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian of the early 20th century, three female artists ― Georgiana Houghton (1814―84), Hilma af Klint (1862―1944) and Emma Kunz (1892―19

Aug 2, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
3 artists explore new horizons of abstract art
Arts & Theater

Scientist-artist utilizes AI to make moon jars

Cheon Young-hwan's experiment on making black porcelain moon jar in collaboration with artificial intelligence is on view at “Random Diversity” exhibition at Wooran Art Scape 1 in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. Courtesy of Wooran FoundationCheon experiments on capturing color of emotionsBy Kwon Mee-yooMoon jars, or Korean white porcelain spherical jars with a resemblance to the glistening full moon, are known to represent traditional virtues such as modesty and meditative beauty through their pure white color and simplicity. If an artificial intelligence (AI) decides the shape of the moon jar based on what it has learned and a robot-arm 3D printer physically produces it, can the moon jar still have that spiritual quality?Cheon Young-hwan, a researcher and artist who explores the possibility of the cooperation between human and AI, reveals the process and results of his project of making a moon jar with colors “extracted from human emotions” using AI and robotic 3D printing at the "Random Diversity" exhibition at Wooran Art Scape 1 in Seongsu-dong, Seoul."Since we are no

Jul 30, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Scientist-artist utilizes AI to make moon jars
Arts & Theater

Haechi guides way in AR app for Changdeok Palace

Cultural Heritage Administrator Chung Jae-suk, second from left, experiences “Changdeok ARirang,” an augmented reality (AR) application developed by SK Telecom, at Changdeok Palace in central Seoul, Monday.Technology offers new ways to explore cultural heritageBy Kwon Mee-yoo"Changdeok ARirang," a new augmented reality (AR) application developed for Changdeok Palace, offers radical new ways for visitors to appreciate cultural heritage.Developed by SK Telecom in collaboration with Google Korea and the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), the application digitally recreates the royal palace with 5G AR technology."Contactless culture, ignited by the COVID-19 pandemic, is changing our way of life. I hope the AR Changdeok Palace project will provide an opportunity for people both inside and outside Korea to enjoy aspects of Korea, including traditional cultural heritage," Cultural Heritage Administrator Chung Jae-suk said."It has been difficult for us to open up this part of the palace to the public because we put an emphasis on preserving it. This application allows those

Jul 27, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Haechi guides way in AR app for Changdeok Palace
Arts & Theater

Museum encourages multidisciplinary art through collaboration

"Win, Lose or Draw: The Drawing Competition" is a participatory art project by GANGNAMBUG for the "Project Hashtag 2020" exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. Courtesy of MMCA'Project Hashtag' blurs boundary between art, other genresBy Kwon Mee-yooIf, when you think of art, all you can come up with is paintings or sculptures, paying a visit to "Project Hashtag," a new exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (MMCA), could give you an idea of how far contemporary art has come. Artists organize bus tours of the Gangnam area, fly drones over high-rise buildings, hold seminars and publish books on the marginalized people of Jongno; all these activities are within the boundary of art, showcased at the national art museum. Sponsored by Hyundai Motor, "Project Hashtag" consists of an open public contest and an exhibition as a result of the winning team's project. The hashtag, or '#', is a special symbol devised to find or sort information on social media but has evolved into a tool for creating and sharing user-generated phra

Jul 26, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Museum encourages multidisciplinary art through collaboration
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