Cheongsong-gun, Cultural Infrastructure Expansion Progressing Steadily, Leisure Activities UP... Namgwan Media Art Hall Opens

On the 7th, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, saw its cultural infrastructure strengthened with the opening of the ‘Namgwan Media Art Hall,’ allowing residents and tourists to enjoy a wider variety of leisure activities.

Cheongsong Culture and Tourism Foundation Namgwan Media Art Hall Opening. [Image source=Cheongsong-gun]

Cheongsong’s representative cultural facilities include the ‘Comprehensive Cultural Welfare Town,’ which houses a large performance hall for various shows and lectures, a small performance hall for meetings, a multipurpose indoor assembly hall, a youth training center, and fitness facilities. The area is also home to the ‘Cheongsong Yasong Art Museum,’ famous for the giant Korean painting ‘Cheongnyang Daewundo’ (46×6.7m), the ‘Gakju Literature Museum’ themed around ‘Gakju,’ which broadened the horizon of Korean historical novels, the Cheongsong Su-seok Flower Stone Museum, Cheongsong Baekja Exhibition Hall, Simsugwan Pottery Exhibition Hall, and the Anti-Japanese Righteous Army Memorial Park, all scattered throughout the region.

In addition, the Cheongsong Culture and Tourism Foundation established the ‘Namgwan Media Art Hall’ on the second floor of the Namgwan Living Culture Center located in Bunam-myeon and held its opening ceremony on the 7th.

The opening ceremony was attended by many guests, including Yoon Kyung-hee, the chairman of the Cheongsong Culture and Tourism Foundation and the county governor, who celebrated the opening of the Namgwan Media Art Hall.

The ‘Namgwan Media Art Hall’ is an interactive immersive media art hall utilizing the works of Namgwan, a first-generation Korean abstract painter from Bunam-myeon, Cheongsong-gun, who is widely recognized overseas, including being the first Korean artist to have his work collected by the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

Last year, the county was selected for a national grant project to promote local cultural vitality, remodeled the exhibition space on the second floor of the Namgwan Living Culture Center, developed media art software and interactive experiential programs, and completed the ‘Namgwan Media Art Hall’ in June. This allows people of all ages and genders to enjoy Namgwan’s high-quality works more easily and familiarly through modern media art.

In particular, the content is composed of ▲a hologram introducing the life and artistic world of Namgwan ▲media art expressing the changes in Namgwan’s works and painting techniques in the context of historical trends ▲interactive immersive content where visitors can directly touch Namgwan’s works ▲and an AI kiosk that outputs text using Namgwan’s painting style.

Additionally, a special exhibition displaying about 30 actual works by Namgwan, created contemporaneously with the pieces used in the media art hall, is being held in the first-floor planned exhibition room until October 6, allowing visitors to appreciate Namgwan’s high-quality works from various perspectives.

Moreover, to promote cultural activities among local residents, the Cheongsong Culture and Tourism Foundation actively conducts various hobby and enrichment classes such as the Namgwan Table Tennis Class and Open Kitchen Cooking Class using the Namgwan Living Culture Center.

Governor Yoon Kyung-hee said, “I am honored by the opening of the media art hall utilizing Namgwan’s works and the special exhibition,” adding, “I hope it will establish itself as a ‘cultural space in daily life’ where people can enjoy culture and arts alongside the many facilities scattered throughout the region.”