Dialogue
(February 1999) |
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Along with the exhibition
"Beauty and Dream of Helen Kim" to commemorate
her 100th birthday, an installation art exhibition was
held to honor Dr. Helen Kim. This exhibition was joint-coordinated
by Professor Jo Deok-hyeon of the Ewha Womans University's
College of Arts and Design and her students. The exhibition
started off by commemorating Dr. Helen Kim, who spent
her life as a pioneer of Korean culture and women's education
for the future and hope of Korea and women under Japanese
colonial rule. The exhibition intended to shed new light
on the history of Korean women. The exhibition also prepared
a space for dialogue so that Dr. Kim's achievements and
life could be approached and evaluated from various perspectives.
Modern images, lighting, sound, and digital media equipment
were used, and the exhibit was organized into the following
segments: Introduction; Conversation 1; Conversation 2;
Her-story; Dialogue; Becoming Over Being; and Deul-da
In/Deul-da Out. |
| The Beauty and Dream of Kim Hwal-ran (February 1999) |
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Doctor Helen Kim (ne Kim
Hwal-ran, 1899~1970) devoted her entire life to Ewha Womans
University. She built the Ewha Womans University Museum
in 1935, under Japanese colonial rule, in order to preserve
Korean cultural heritage and to give students a sense
of national identity. Most of the Museum's collection
was lost during the Korean War, but in order to bolster
national pride and introduce Korean culture to foreigners,
she reconstructed the Museum in Busan, while taking refuge
from the war. After the war was over, she reopened the
Museum, put her heart and soul into collecting artifacts,
and laid the foundation for the Museum. Dr. Helen Kim
had a fine eye for art and many of today's national treasures
in the Museum were acquired by her. To celebrate the 100th
birthday of Dr. Kim, who made the Museum what it is today,
an exhibition, composed mainly of pieces she collected,
was held to commemorate Dr. Kim's vision for preserving
Korean culture and tradition, as well as her wish to realize
that vision through the Museum, and in order to remember
the simple beauty that she pursued. The exhibition opened
on Dr. Kim's birthday, February 27, and was divided into
three sections. The first symbolized the official and
external image of Dr. Kim and consisted of documentary
paintings, such as the Gisagyecheob, and portraits from
the 18th century, as well as ceremonial tools and vessels
from the 16th century. The second section symbolized an
outdoor garden by using landscape paintings of oddly shaped
stones and flowers from the Joseon dynasty and a celadon
stool with openwork designs from the 13th century Goryeo
dynasty (918-1392). The third section symbolized the personal
aspect of Dr. Kim and was composed of wooden artifacts
such as a folding screen with a painting of 100 boys or
a desk with a white porcelain pencil holder and water
dropper. There was also a white porcelain jar with a poem
in underglaze iron and painted ox-horn sheet handicrafts
for the boudoir, as well as table dishes with designs
in underglaze blue that were actually used to serve guests,
all of which display the poetic sentiment and personal
taste of Dr. Kim. In addition, ritual artifacts were displayed,
even though Dr. Kim herself was a Christian, showing her
deep love for the Korean culture. |
| Odang An Dong-suk (1999) |
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Odang An Dong-suk (1922-) is a Korean painter, who has been painting for over 50 years and who also served successive terms as dean of the College of Arts and Design at Ewha Womans University. In February 1998, An Dong-suk donated 30 of her paintings to the Ewha Womans University Museum in order to contribute to the progress of Ewha and the education of Ewha students. To commemorate this generous donation, the 30 paintings plus four paintings initially owned by the Museum were put on display under six different themes. In addition, a film of An Dong-suk working on her paintings was aired, and her sketches, equipment, and photo albums were exhibited. |
Dragon: The Asian within the Western (November 1998) |
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Alexander Liberman was born
in 1912 in Kiev, Russia and studied mathematics at the
Sorbonne in Paris. In 1941 he migrated to the U.S. to
flee from Nazi rule and is currently an environmental
sculptor in New York. One of his works, "Dragon Wall"
was acquired by the Ewha Womans University Museum and
displayed at the 2nd Special Exhibition in the Ewha Sculpture
Garden. The motif of "Dragon Wall" (1990) is,
appropriately enough, the dragon, which symbolizes Asians'
animistic outlook on nature. "Dragon Wall" demonstrates
the quintessence of an environmental sculpture. |
| The
Power of Old Korean Stone Sculptures (July 1997)
|
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This exhibition was arranged
in the sculpture garden in front of the Museum because
the Museum had to close for a year for interior renovations.
In the past, stone sculptures were considered a part of
shamanism and burial rituals, and were approached from
the perspectives of folklore, anthropology or religion.
However, this exhibition transcended these traditional
perspectives and underscored the artistic value of stone
sculptures. There were 70 pieces of stone sculpture including
those of tigers, warriors, literati, couples, and of a
Jeju boy monk that guarded the tomb of the Queen of King
Munjong (1414-1441) of the Joseon dynasty (1392~1910).
There were also stone sculptures seen in everyday life
such as totem poles, grinding stones, and well lids. A
Buddhist stone pagoda--National Treasure No. 351--from
the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), a stone pagoda and lantern
from Joseon, and a stone lantern post from the Unified
Silla period (661-935) were also put on display. |
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