Buan County Cultural Foundation Hosts 'Archive Buan' Exhibition

Small Art Gallery, Unique Time and Place... Reexamining Artworks

Buan-gun Cultural Foundation (hereinafter, the Foundation) announced on the 17th that it will hold the first special exhibition of "Small Art Gallery, Archive Buan," titled "Dangsan, the Village Guardian," at the Buan History and Culture Center from the 25th of this month to September 1st.

According to the Foundation, the "Small Art Gallery, Archive Buan" project is part of the Small Art Gallery Creation and Operation Support Project sponsored by the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is a visual arts enjoyment project that supports small and medium-sized cities lacking visual arts infrastructure such as museums and galleries.

The Foundation took inspiration from the characteristics of the "Buan History and Culture Center," which was opened after remodeling the old Buan Financial Cooperative. They plan to hold three themed exhibitions that record and highlight the region’s history through art, utilizing the special exhibition hall within the History and Culture Center.

The first theme is "Dangsan, the Village Guardian." Participating artist Park Sun-hee will visit Dangsan sites spread throughout Buan-eup and the entire Byeonsan Peninsula and represent their features through an art map. Artists affiliated with Ryu Art Work (CEO Shim Sung-hee), active mainly in Buan and Jeonbuk, will express the historical value and current significance of Dangsan through various craftworks such as bas-relief, ceramics, woodworking, and fan crafts.

Alongside this, they aim to make the value of Dangsan, which protects our villages, more accessible to the public through a humanities concert. Folklorist Kim Sung-sik will share the historical value of Dangsan with the audience through "Our Village Dangsan Story." The big band Raon will enrich the exhibition with the An(安)Nyeong(寧) Concert, themed on the peace of neighbors.

The second theme, "Buan Bu Family, Berry," is an exhibition that traces the places and people of Buan loved by Brian Berry, who came to Korea in the 1960s as a Peace Corps volunteer, through the photographs he left behind. Participating artists Kim Young-bong and Lee Se-ha, along with the social enterprise Ubuntu, explore Brian Berry’s life and perspective on Buan from a contemporary viewpoint.

The third theme, "Flower of the Sea, Gomso Salt Field," is an exhibition exploring the culture and labor of the Gomso Salt Field, a national important fishery heritage site known for its solar salt production. Artist Seo Hae-young conceptualizes works focusing on the people who make salt, artist Lee Buan expresses the dynamism of Gomso Salt Field through paintings, and photographer Lee Man-su captures the salt-making process on video.

Hong Young-sun, the Facility Operations Team Leader, stated, "Through this special exhibition themed on places, times, and people of the Buan area, we aim to discover the unique beauty of Buan and create an exhibition that encourages Buan residents to love their hometown."

Meanwhile, the first exhibition, "Dangsan, the Village Guardian," will open on the 25th and can be viewed free of charge without a separate reservation.