Contemporary art and architecture in South Korea are underlined by the nation's rapid economic growth--particularly in technology sectors--alongside its arduous evolution from a dictatorship to liberal democracy, and one now deeply entrenched within the neo-liberal globalization. As the nation is enjoying unprecedented and world-wide popularity from K-pop, K-drama and Korean films--its contemporary art and architecture have also received attention that parallels South Korea's rise on the economic and political ladders of the world. Yet it is difficult to ascertain a cohesive picture of its contemporary art and architecture in a concrete or singularized form. And it's true that any artistic or architectural productions from a nation with its own distinct history and culture are far too expansive and complex to be molded by one dominant script. However, a nation that has been fragmented into two parts since 1948 would naturally have difficulties imagining the idea of wholeness about itself.
Thus, rather than attempting a comprehensive portrait of contemporary art and architecture in South Korea, this conference will instead accept the reality of fragments that defined the source and destination of its cultural practices. As such, the conference will probe the nature and aspects of cultural fragments in Korea, through presentations and discussions about the diversity of artistic practices, problems of working in the absence of memories (buried under rapid urban developments), and an inability to draw a distant or conclusive future about its national, or even cultural self. All this will be examined through the different perspectives of Koreans and Korean Americans scholars. Speakers include Director Sunjung Kim (SAMUSO: Space for Contemporary Art), Professor Miwon Kwon (Art History, UCLA) and Artist Yong Soon Min, Curator Jihoi Lee, and South Korean Artist Minouk Lim with Host Professor Kyong Park (Visual Arts, UC San Diego)
Admission/Cost: FREE
Location:
Structural and Mechanical Engineering Building, Visual Arts Presentation Lab (Room 149)
University of California San Diego
9500 Gilman Dr
La Jolla, CA 92093
Saturday, January 30 - 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM
For more information, please visit: www.koreanstudies.ucsd.edu
Thus, rather than attempting a comprehensive portrait of contemporary art and architecture in South Korea, this conference will instead accept the reality of fragments that defined the source and destination of its cultural practices. As such, the conference will probe the nature and aspects of cultural fragments in Korea, through presentations and discussions about the diversity of artistic practices, problems of working in the absence of memories (buried under rapid urban developments), and an inability to draw a distant or conclusive future about its national, or even cultural self. All this will be examined through the different perspectives of Koreans and Korean Americans scholars. Speakers include Director Sunjung Kim (SAMUSO: Space for Contemporary Art), Professor Miwon Kwon (Art History, UCLA) and Artist Yong Soon Min, Curator Jihoi Lee, and South Korean Artist Minouk Lim with Host Professor Kyong Park (Visual Arts, UC San Diego)
Admission/Cost: FREE
Location:
Structural and Mechanical Engineering Building, Visual Arts Presentation Lab (Room 149)
University of California San Diego
9500 Gilman Dr
La Jolla, CA 92093
Saturday, January 30 - 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM
For more information, please visit: www.koreanstudies.ucsd.edu
