Korean artists to exhibit creations in Prague

By Chung Ah-young

In the modern world, the boundaries between arts are blurring as contemporary artists and designers infuse various elements within their works. The space, material and origin have no more meaning in fusing the art scene.

For Korean artists, this cultural moment is seen as an opportunity for originality and innovation by combining Korean craft traditions, iconography and techniques with contemporary ideas and forms.

To show off Korea’s visual aesthetics and cultural identity, the World Jewellery Museum will hold an exhibition titled “Korea DNA” at the Designblok 2011 Superstudio in Prague, Czech Republic, Oct. 4-9.

It’s part of the cultural exchanges of the museum after “Lovers from Prague” took place in Seoul in 2010.

“It will be a meaningful occasion to present a major exhibition in Europe about the recent emergence of Korea’s contemporary design culture,” Lee Kang-won, director of the museum, said in a press release.

Some 25 artworks by eight Korean artists will explore and express the creative tensions between the past, present and future through their individual work processes and materials.

The artists include Jang Jin, Kim You-sun, Choi Won-jung, Lim Hyo-jung, Yoon Bo-hyun, Yoon Jeong-won, Yun Sang-hee and Lee Il-jung.

“They are known as innovative artists who blend traditional and contemporary aesthetics in their creations, which drives the new cultural forms of visual representation. They investigate their role as artists by opening up the cultural icons of Korea’s heritage and giving relevance to our time,” Elaine Kim, curator of the exhibition, said.

The artists ask thought-provoking questions about the possibilities of how art and tradition evolve in response to contemporary social concerns and issues. “These makers have emerged at a time when the old boundaries between creative disciplines are weakening and through their exceptional work, they explore the overlapping and in-between domains of art, craft and design. As guardians of tradition and agents of change they are revitalizing and redefining the aesthetic within the Korean visual culture in the era of global community,” she said.

For example, Jang Jin, who will return to the Czech Republic where she had her first exhibition in 1999 at the Brno Museum, expresses her concentrated visual form of the ceramics as an embodiment of her intellectually and culturally flexible mind, which is integral to the evolution of the concepts of tradition.

Kim You-sun’s mother-of-pearl works extends the definitions of the traditional medium and violate every concept of what a conventional lacquer ware practitioner considers to be sacrament. But through this medium with its spectacular luminous quality, Kim creates the portal for spiritual transcendence.

The exhibition is also expected to strengthen the diplomatic relationship between Korea and the Czech Republic as a cultural bridge between the two nations by encouraging artistic and intellectual exchanges and collaboration across physical, cultural and imaginative borders.

In order to enhance a deeper understanding of the diverse cultural movements around the world, the museum has organized the exhibitions that explore the issues involved in the present experiences of cultural identity. By exhibiting a broad context with the current art and design movement, the museum also seeks integration of tradition and innovation leading to eye-opening discoveries.