Interview with Korea Cultural Center Association

It was the first official move in three years after participating in the Plas 2019 Contemporary Art Show. Regarding the ‘Beauty’ exhibition held by the association this fall, please tell both of your impressions and the association’s activities during the pandemic. 

 

 

President Choi Jeong-im. During the pandemic, the program was conducted online, and meetings were limited to the branch president meeting and the regular general meeting. Instead, we did a lot of seminars. I was full of worries, such as what to do if someone is marginalized or what to do if someone gets frustrated. There was only one purpose in holding this exhibition: the past few years have been difficult, so let’s take this opportunity to encourage, consider, and awaken each other. Fortunately, the response has been very good.

 

 

 

Crafts are items that are used in daily life, so they had to be practical. Currently, I look at it in two ways. First, both the creator and the viewer have become very advanced. In the past, in a closed situation, it was simply to learn a technique and have a side job, but these days, it is simply recognized as a job, income, and an art. With the development of various media, the perspective on crafts has changed a lot. Our instructors also had an opportunity to develop in such a perspective, and we had to meet the expectations of the audience. The main activity of the association was the development and upgrade of the program. When we first took our Zoom class, we were really stuck. This is because there were members who were not familiar with online learning. So we passed on how to use Zoom to the heads of departments and instructors.

Chief Director Lee Geum-deok. We were worried that this exhibition, which we had been holding for a long time after the pandemic, would just be an exhibition of individual works. However, all the members worked hard and showed activeness, so we were able to finish it safely. During the pandemic, we thought a lot about quitting this job and closing the center due to economic hardship. I wondered if we could actually do creative work. Still, the members participated more actively than expected and the quality of the work was good. We are grateful, and we think that we will be able to continue moving forward this way. 

The traditional culture of the past felt like it was restored to its original form and focused more on the technical part. These days, the environment, science, and tools have developed, and various materials have been diversified. Even if the base is traditional, it is changing nicely by combining any number of modern materials. In the case of traditional knots, by grafting modern parts, the knot itself is transformed into a prop, and the public can approach it more comfortably. Changes that reflect daily life in the original form of tradition, that is the trend these days. I think our center should also keep up with this trend.