International DUMBO Dance Festival: Contemporary Korean Choreographers

October 19 - 25, 2005

Gallery Talk and Film Screening

with

Heinz Insu Fenkl
Director, Interstitial Studies Institute, SUNY New Paltz

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

It's a classically Korean tale and a small triumph of geopolitics too, brought to New York audiences for the first time by The Korea Society. The animated feature-length film Empress Chung played for one night at The French Institute in Midtown, telling the story of a dutiful Korean daughter who sacrifices herself to the Dragon King in order to redeem her blind father's sight, which starts a magical undersea adventure that ends with her becoming an empress. Already in wide-release throughout Asia, Empress Chung has played in only a handful of American venues. The plot would have seemed familiar to anyone who knows Korean folklore. Less obvious would have been the story behind the production. The film has been hailed as a triumph of geopolitics as well as animation. Directed by iconic Korean American animator Nelson Shin, Empress Chung was the first feature-length joint production employing both South Korean and North Korean artists.

Immediately following the screening, wowed cinema-goers heard a lecture by Heinz Insu Fenkl, director of the Interstitial Studies Institute at SUNY New Paltz. Fenkl's talk, titled "Empress Chung: Korea's Beauty and the Beast," introduced listeners to deep, uniquely Korean values that the film (and folktale) express, and traced the roots of the story through other ancient East Asian traditions. His lecture also illustrated how the traditional folktale had been adapted in this animated version to convey a message about the universal Korean aspiration for national reunification.

 

Exhibition

September 7 - October 28, 2005

This exhibition examined the changing social realities of Korean society from the 1950s to the 1990s through a selected reading of Korea's most popular comic books. Featuring the works of 17 of the best-known artists, the exhibition offered a running commentary that reflected the lives of ordinary people—at once joyful, satirical and penetrating. What shines through these works most prominently is an engaged and vigorous civil society in Korea, continuously challenging and energizing the status quo in whimsical and provocative ways. By so doing, they play an important role in characterizing and distinguishing the culture, sensibility and sentiment of modern Korea.

Comics were first popularized in Korea in serialized newspaper strips during the 1960s, when the works of Kim Seong Hwan and others entered the idiom of everyday life. In doing so, they helped shape popular culture during the military dictatorship of former president Park Chung Hee (1961-1979). Later, Park Jae Dong produced serials in the liberal paper, Hankyoreh, under former presidents Chun Doo Hwan (1980-1988) and Roh Tae Woo (1988-1993). In contrast to the oppressive political atmosphere, the comic genre Myongnang Manhwa ("Cheerful Comics") gave expression to a new popular culture in a rapidly transforming society. The humor and exuberance it expressed contrasted sharply with the pervading sense of social repression, stemming from censorship of the media and tight government control of most aspects of society. Slicing through the heavy atmosphere, Myongnang Manhwa provided not only a welcome relief but also penetrating social and political commentary. Cartoonists such as Kil Chang Dok, Kim Su Jung, Kim Won Bin, Park Ki Jeong, Park Su Dong, Shin Mun Su, and Yoon Sweng Un described common and seemingly banal episodes in everyday life while masterfully engaging the public with biting and witty commentary. At the time, a given comic's popularity was a gauge of South Korea's national pulse. The storylines of comics were sometimes built around historical content. Kim Yong Hwan, Ko Wu Young, and Lee Du Ho all popularized the history of ancient Korea, making it accessible to a wide range of audiences, both young and old. The rapid growth in popularity of historically based comics after the Korean War provides important clues as to the development of people's identities vis-a-vis the emerging Korean state. Other cartoon artists in the exhibition drew comics that dealt with various contemporary social and cultural themes during the 1970s and 1980s. Heo Young Man, Kim Hyung Bae, Lee Hyun Se, Oh Se Young, and Park Bong Seong delved into topics ranging from Korea's economic growth during the '70s, to the resulting urban and rural divide, to the Vietnam War. Through these works, it is possible to see the decades-long social evolution of Korea in small frames.

The masterful drawing and writing of the featured artists provide a running commentary, at once joyful, satirical, penetrating, and reflect the lives of ordinary people. There were two related events held in conjunction with this exhibition. The first was an opening reception on September 7, 2005 that featured a lecture entitled “Life and Comix: 1960s Korea” by Heinz Insu Fenkl, director of the creative writing program and Interstitial Studies Institute at SUNY New Paltz. The second event was a screening of Empress Chung, a path-breaking Korean animation feature based on a classic Korean folktale, which was presented at The French Institute on September 21, 2005.

This exhibit is currently showing at art and cultural institutions nationwide. Click here to see where it is now, or to have it shown at your location.

Exhibition

Wishing for Independence: The Life of Kim Ku in Photographs

May 5 - June 30, 2005

The life of Kim Ku, one of the leading figures in Korea’s half-century struggle for independence and national unity, was documented in this exhibition of 25 historic photographs from the Seoul-based Kim Ku Foundation. The photographs represented all the critical stages of Kim's life, beginning with his early career as an anti-Japanese activist. Renowned as an uncompromising advocate of Korean independence, Kim reached the zenith of his career during the '30s and '40s as head of the Shanghai-based Korean Provisional Government in Exile. Just as important, though, was his role in the post-war political tumult in Korea that in relatively short order led to the division of the nation into two separate states. The politicians in power in the South accepted trusteeship and partition. By contrast, Kim supported general strikes against the trustee administration, refused to recognize the South as a separate, independent state and made a historic journey to Pyongyang in a failed attempt to urge the North's leaders to accept reunification. The final photo was of Kim's funeral, following his murder by political opponents. The timing of this exhibition was auspicious as 2005 marked the 60th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Wishing for Independence was co-presented with the New York office of The Association of Commemorative Services for Patriot Kim Ku. The exhibition debuted with a gallery talk by Jongsoo James Lee, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University's Korea Institute and the translator of Kim Ku's autobiography.