Ahead of This Year's Namdo Dalbam Night Market Season 1, a 'Special Buddhist Painting Exhibition'

On the 25th at Gwangju Dong-gu Daein Art Market Hanpyeong Gallery

'Soldam Workshop' Invited... Exhibition of Modern Reinterpretation Works

A special Buddhist painting exhibition will be held ahead of the first season of the Namdo Dalbam Night Market, which will newly open this year at Daein Market in Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City.

According to Ildo City Research Institute, which planned and promoted the Namdo Dalbam Night Market on the 21st, an exhibition titled ‘BUDDHA’ will be held from the 25th of this month to the 1st of next month at the Hanpyeong Gallery in Daein Art Market.

Recently, Buddhist culture has been embraced as a ‘hip’ culture by the MZ generation, who value unique experiences, drawing attention to temple stays and the Lotus Lantern Festival.

Moreover, at the Seoul International Buddhist Expo hosted by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, events such as counseling using Chat GPT under the theme ‘Fun Buddhism’ and the EDM festival featuring comedian Yoon Seong-ho as ‘New Jin Monk’ gained popularity.

‘Soldam Workshop,’ which gained popularity by presenting Buddhist paintings with a modern sensibility at the Seoul International Buddhist Expo, will be the first to open the exhibition for this year’s Namdo Dalbam Night Market.

Led by artists Choi Hyun-hoe and Hwang Doo-hyun, Soldam Workshop is a top-tier Buddhist painting studio in Korea, showcasing works imbued with Buddhist spirit stroke by stroke. Their artworks, which could easily appear in popular cafes in areas frequented by the MZ generation such as Seongsu-dong and Yeonnam-dong, have gained word-of-mouth popularity and participated in the Buddha Art Fair for two consecutive years.

This exhibition was planned to suit the characteristics of Daein Art Market, which has been selected as a star of Korean tourism as an art-type night market.

The exhibition introduces Buddhist art that can communicate with contemporary audiences, displaying works that combine traditional iconography with modern sensibility in accordance with Buddhism’s teachings of embracing all, even those who are not Buddhists. Visitor experience programs are also expected to convey the ‘hip’ image of Buddhism that has become younger and more vibrant.

Lee Jeong-jin, director of the Namdo Dalbam Night Market, said, “Seeing the recent interest and changes in Buddhist culture, I really wanted to combine it with our night market, and after long negotiations, we were able to invite Soldam Workshop,” adding, “I hope many citizens will enjoy this exhibition’s uniqueness beyond religion.”

Meanwhile, the first season of this year’s Namdo Dalbam Night Market will be held on the 25th of this month, June 15, and June 22.