Korea’s Media Art Content Showcased to Captivate Art Lovers in Tokyo and Hanoi
Date Dec 06, 2022
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Media art content featuring scenes of Korea’s attractive cultural and tourism assets and bilateral exchanges with Japan and Vietnam is being showcased on the façades of the Korean Cultural Center in Tokyo and Korean Cultural Center in Hanoi, respectively, on a permanent basis from December 1. This project was realized jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST) and Korean Culture and Information Service (Director KIM Jang-ho, KOCIS).
This joint project was planned to both bring attention to Korea’s technological prowess and the many dynamic aspects of Korean culture and highlight the role of Korean Cultural Centers as hubs of the Korean Wave through innovative media art.
The two Centers installed massive high-resolution LED displays on their façades to showcase the 25 videos produced for the project in a more immersive manner. In particular, a “ㄱ-shaped” display was installed on Hanoi Center’s rooftop, creating an overpowering, three-dimensional visual experience.
The 25 videos feature Korea’s cultural and tourism assets, major tourist attractions of the two respective countries, scenes and items of bilateral exchanges, etc. The videos introducing Korea’s cultural and tourism assets display the grandiose cityscapes of Seoul (e.g., Gyeongbokgung Palace, one of the five major ancient palaces located downtown) as well as well-known intangible cultural heritage (e.g., the powerful yet fluid moves of the traditional martial art Taekwondo). Clips of major tourist attractions of the two countries are shown together in one screen, while greeting messages have been embodied in specially designed typography[1] on neon signs in both languages.
Korean media artists KIM Hye-gyeong, CHO Se-min, KIM Jae-wook, and Vakki, who have steadily built their fame in Japan and Vietnam, participated in this project, adding greater significance to its aim of serving as a driver of bilateral exchanges. Artist CHO Se-min created a character based on the folklore of Korea and Japan accompanied by a cat (a pet much loved in Japan) to promote friendship between the two countries. CHO said, “I tried to focus on engaging the Japanese audience in communication with Korean culture, rather than introducing it in a single-handed manner, with the hope that my work will contribute to expanding bilateral exchanges that have been held back during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Artist KIM Jae-wook, who created one of the videos showcased in Vietnam, said, “I featured major tourist attractions of Vietnam and Korea next to one another in one screen and inserted a sea with floating boats in the middle as a symbol of exchanges to communicate the concept that Vietnam and Korea, with their distinctive cultural backgrounds, are closely interconnected by friendship.”
[1] Typography: Art of arranging type (typefaces, point sizes, etc.) to make it more legible and appealing