Published by the Gwangju International Center since 2001
“Some people have wondered if I’m trying to save on paints. Actually, no. I use a lot. When I color, I don’t color an object all at once. Because of the nature of oil paints, it takes some time to dry. I apply one color and leave it on the canvas to soak in. If I wipe it off before the paint dries, the canvas is lightly colored. Then I add another color, brushing it on the canvas horizontally and vertically like weaving cloth.”
Now any seasoned festival-goer will tell you, getting to the site is always a gruelling slog, which leaves you exhausted before the first chord is even strummed. I have had motorway breakdowns, cancelled coaches, and overcrowded trains. But this festival was different – we actually arrived in style.
Every year, the Ha Jung-woong Art Museum invites several competent artists and supports their exhibitions. A few years ago, when I visited the museum, I encountered some very interesting artworks. They were traditional Korean landscape paintings combined with unique scenes in them. For instance, a waterfall from the sky was expressed as long noodles from chopsticks. The various foods and snacks in the landscape paintings gave me a fun shock, and they have remained in my memory for a long time. Luckily, I have had the opportunity to have an interview with Haru K, the artist of Delicious Landscape, for this issue of the Gwangju News. You too will be able to meet Haru K through the following interview.
This past October, Gwangju hosted the inaugural Buskers World Cup (BWC) in what can only be described as a massive step in the right direction when compared to the ordinarily bland, tedious, and quite frankly pedestrian “festivals” that plague the ACC. Beyond providing all sorts of great entertainment, the BWC brought about a noticeable change in the ambiance of the downtown area and acted as a platform for meaningful and international cultural exchange.
Opened to the public since 2001, the Uijae Museum of Korean Art was established by the Uijae Foundation and Gwangju City Council, with the hope that it would become a place where his works could be celebrated and brought back to life.
In the beginning chapters, the writing may make the book seem simplistic. But the author, Kazuo Ishiguro, is a Nobel Prize recipient, and from reading two of his other novels, I learned that there is a lot more happening than might first appear.
Why do humans want to be connected? Why do they want to reach farther and higher? To compete and to conquer? For high returns? To control? To Seo Kee-moon, humans have to be connected to communicate, share, and be happy with each other. The direction of his vigorous force and energy are symbolized in his latest work “Cable Flower” in his most recent exhibition Metaverse.
Roberto Santaguida is a Canadian filmmaker working extensively in the field of documentary and experimental films. He completed his studies in film production at Concordia University, and his work has been screened at more than 400 international festivals, some of which are the Tampere Film Festival in Finland, the CPH:DOX in Denmark, the Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil in Brazil, Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival in the United States, and Message to Man in Russia.
