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Mix-Max: The Korea Foundation in Europe |
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Between 21 February and 10 May 2004, an exhibition for which 17 European and Asian artists collaborated was held in Seoul. The exhibition, called Mix-Max brought together the works of young artists from different cultures under the theme of hybridisation and interbreeding. Mix-Max presented paintings, installations and videos mixing different artistic genres. The mix of territories, points of views, energies, concepts and know-how of the Euro-Asian artists realized by the mixing of genres -plastic arts, music, fashion, dance, design, ceramics and cinema - offered the public an opportunity to think about cultural relations in the two continents. In striving for a link between Europe and Asia and the promotion of a reciprocal understanding of culture between them, the Korea Foundation has given support to this exhibition jointly with the Asia-Europe Foundation. The Korea Foundation was created in 1991 at the initiative of the Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs. Its goal is to further a better understanding of Korea in the world, to encourage worldwide friendship by international exchange programs and by constructing lasting networks with foreign countries. The Foundation supports Korean students abroad by encouraging the universities to train teachers and to create degree programs linked to Korea and by encouraging research in Korea at the bosom of public political institutes. These activities are consolidated by the allocation of grants to university students, postgraduate students and research workers to spread the Korean language and to train future specialists in Korea. As well, it also regularly organizes personal exchanges and non-governmental forums with representatives from the political, economic, social, academic and cultural world. In addition to publishing magazines and books, and with an eye towards the importance of multimedia in exchanges, it created in 2002 the website Access to Korean Arts & Culture (www.clickkorea.org) to spread cultural information to foreigners.
Since 1992, the Korean Foundation has given priority support to the installation of a Korean Gallery (aimed at becoming a permanent presentation of Korean collections) in the world's famous museums. Although the number of Korean treasures dispersed in the world passes 80,000 pieces, most are locked away in reserves or hidden away in obscure corners of Oriental or Chinese galleries. The Foundation finances this type of operation in one part by assuring the heavy work and in another by taking charge of designing the space and presentation of the pieces so that the gallery can serve as a window for Korean art. By way of compensation, the museums commit to new acquisitions and to the appointment of a curator in charge of the collection. Furthermore, each year in Korea, the Foundation organizes a workshop for these curators. So far, the Foundation has brought its support to 14 museums in six countries. Among them are Far Eastern Art Museum (Cologne, 1995), Museum for Arts and Crafts (Hamburg, 1997), British Museum (London, 2000) and Musee Guimet (Paris, 2001). The Korea Foundation organizes travelling exhibitions and traditional art shows. Recently these tours have essentially been realized in Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland), an area that not long ago established diplomatic relations with Korea. It supports the visibility of contemporary Korean creation: exhibition at the Chester Beatty Library Gallery in Dublin, at the end of 2003, of 10 plastic artists, exhibition Vent d'Est (East Wind) co-organized in 2004 with the Seoul National University and the Universite Paris 1 - Pantheon-Sorbonne. The Foundation stimulates the presentation of living contemporary shows in the heart of outstanding festivals like the Festival d'automne a Paris (Autumn Festival in Paris). The Korea Foundation looks to increase its cultural exchange actions, which have been the minority of its work up till now in comparison with the whole of its projects. The budget of these activities (12 of the cooperation's 2004 budget or three times less than the one allocated to Korean studies) should be increased. More important is the fact that the Korean Foundation should re-think its collaboration with the ASEF. Forming an efficient partnership rather than coexisting one next to the other on the chessboard of cooperation seems to be the recurring theme of the two entities.
Contact: Keum-Jin Yoon, Director of Cultural Exchange. Website: www.kofo.or.kr
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