From winning gold at the Winter Olympics to hosting November's G-20 summit, Korea has emerged as a vibrant leader in sports, policy and the arts. The Korea Society celebrates the run-up to the G-20 by showcasing new artists from Northeast Asia in an exhibition of their latest works. New York residents all, these young visionaries share their images of the City, reflecting on the challenges of urbanization and the search for the contemplative. With styles distinctly Asian and cosmopolitan, Hao Chang, Maki Teshima, and Zola Nyambuu explore the image in modern society, recollecting the work of late contemporary great and Korean-born artist Nam June Paik (1932-2006), whom the exhibition honors.

Dr. Theresa Ki-ja Kim, The Korea Society

Dr. Kim leads a tour of the exhibition and introduces the masked dance-drama as a form of performance.

Koreans expressed their passion and fear through masked dance for hundreds of years.  The dance-drama dates back to shamanic ritual aimed at warding off malevolent spirits and grew into a form of popular entertainment that poked fun at the establishment.


March 4—April 25, 2010

Free and Open to the Public.

The Korea Society Gallery
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor 
(Building entrance on SW corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street)

The Korea Society presents the print catalog for Missionary Photography in Korea: Encountering the West through Christianity, a 2009 exhibition of historical photographs taken by early Christian missionaries to Korea.

Featuring more than 70 black and white photographs taken between 1887 and 1938, Missionary Photography in Korea: Encountering the West through Christianity, captures a transformative era, when contact with Western missionaries was creating new religious identities and stoking cultural clashes that would come to shape modern Korea. Indeed, it provides a glimpse of dramatic social changes in progress that absorb the reader in their abundance of character and detail. Each photograph is accompanied by an extensive caption on the facing page that puts the scene in historical and cultural context.

More than deeply engaging collection of rare photographs, Missionary Photography in Korea: Encountering the West through Christianity is also a solid reference book on the subject of early missionary activities in Korea, and includes essays by leading scholars and experts on Christianity in Korea such as Donald N. Clark, Hyaeweol Choi, Chang Uk Byun, Don Baker and Louanne Norris Smith.

Missionary Photography in Korea: Encountering the West through Christianity was edited by Donald N. Clark, professor of history and the director of International Studies Program at Trinity University. Clark is the author of Culture and Customs of Korea and Living Dangerously in Korea: The Western Experience, 1900-1950. The son of missionaries, he was a Peace Corps volunteer, a Social Science Research Council fellow, and a Fulbright scholar. His research focuses on Korea, where he has spent much of his life.

Price:
Current members: $30
Non-members $40

Shipping: $6.25

This exhibition features a rare collection of locks, latches and key charms, from the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392-1910). The items reveal the richly symbolic and exquisitely decorative dimensions of traditional Korean aesthetic and craft traditions. On loan from the Lock Museum in Seoul and shown for the first time in the United States, the collection includes beautifully designed metal and wood objects executed in myriad shapes: dragons, turtles, butterflies, fish, bats and swallows. Although these objects served functional purposes in everyday life, such as securing gates and protecting the contents of chests and other kinds of furniture, the beauty of their design underscores the primarily symbolic nature of the protection they afforded. Traditionally, Koreans believed that locks and latches fashioned in the shape of talismanic animals could invoke the power of these animals both to ensure the protection of their property and to bestow the blessings of wealth, health, fecundity and happiness. As an accompaniment to the locks and latches, key charms evolved from functional key holders into exquisitely decorated personal accessories passed from mothers to daughters as a symbol of the transfer of responsibility for ensuring the good management of household affairs.

The exhibition will be on view in New York City at two venues: The Korea Society (October 8, 2009-January 29, 2010) and Flushing Town Hall (October 10, 2009-January 31, 2010)