The exhibition Arirang Flower Seed is a mixture of two terms, 'Arirang' which signifies Korean people, and 'Flower Seed' which may seem insignificant but is charged with life. The title of the exhibition represents Korean artists who reaped beauty and health in barren land. The exhibition features artists from neighboring countries of Japan, China, and the Commonwealth of Independent States, because these countries are where most Koreans live outside of Korea. They reflect Korean modern history, in that many Koreans chose to move abroad to avoid poverty and colonization from the mid-19th century until mid-20th century.
This exhibition presenting works by Korean artists who live as proud minorities in foreign societies gives us the opportunity to read into the sensibility of those living in the boundaries of 'nationality' and 'nations'. Considering how fast Korea is becoming a multi-cultural society through mass immigration and globalization, studying the works of different immigration population will nurture us to grow into a mature society.
Korean - Japanese Art
Koreans living in Japan call themselves 'Jaeil'. This means 'Living in Japan', and expresses a state of uncertainty and temporality. Although based in Japan, some of these people retain their Korean nationality, while others have chosen to change to Japanese nationality. This exhibition presents the different trends in art in the different generations of Korean-Japanese artists, displaying works by Cho Yang-Gyu, owned by the National Museum of Modern Art, Japan, works by Jeon Wha-Whang, owned by Kyoto Art Gallery, and works by Baek Ryung, owned by Joseon University of Tokyo. The exhibition also features works by Takayama Noboru, who is mentioned in Japanese art history of 70s, as well as works by young third-generation Korean-Japanese artists.
Art by Koreans living in Commonwealth of Independent States
After Koreans moved to the Maritime Province of Siberia to avoid poverty and colonization, they were forced to move again to Central Asia because of Stalin's deportation policy of 1937. These Koreans mostly spoke Russian and were heavily influenced by Russian culture.
However, after the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s the once Korean-Russians are re-establishing their Korean identities while still living in the independent countries of the former Soviet Union. They have begun using their ethnic language (Korean) and connecting with their history and lost culture.
The exhibition presents works by Byun Wol-Ryong, a professor of Repin University in Russia who had a huge influence on North Korean painting, and works by Park Nicolai, who holds an Art Doctorate, and is honored as one of the best educators. Park's work focuses on inner reality. On display at the exhibition are also works by Shin Nicolai, who described the miserable life of Koreans through his series Jinhonjae, and works by Kim Sergei, which express moral disappointment in the collapse of communism and human anxiety after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Korean-Chinese Art
Korean-Chinese have a strong Chinese identity due to the Chinese minority policy. Having developed through Josen independence movement and communism of China, Koran-Chinese works in particular demonstrate strong sense of subject in terms of both form and content, and shows the tendency to favor figure paintings based on folk subject. As China starts to open up both politically and economically in 1990s, artists also boldly express their humor and wit. Lurking on the hidden side, however, is a sense of heaviness. Korean-Chinese artists represented in this exhibition include Lee Gyu-Nam, Kim Woo and Park Kwang-Sup.
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Jo Yang-Gyu, Closed Storage |
Kim Woo
Touch Point Series no.105 |
Kim Sergei, Ancestor |
Baek Ryung,
Bring Back the Father of this Child |
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Byun Wol-Ryong, Kalinino |
Jeon Wha-Whang, Gunshot |
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Park Nikolai, Outside of Samarkand |
