Experience Korean Contemporary Society through Media Art in Paris, France

Ministry of Culture Korea Art Exhibition 'Decoding Korea'
Deciphering Korea's Characteristics through Media Art

A Korean art exhibition will be held in Paris, France, where the Summer Olympics are taking place. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Arts Management Support Center will host 'Decoding Korea' at the Grand Palais Immersif in Paris from the 26th of this month to the 25th of next month.

This is a space that decodes the characteristics of Korea through Korean art using media art. It particularly focuses on the complexity and multifaceted nature of Korean society, which has undergone radical changes due to industrialization.

The exhibition introduces eighteen works by eleven domestic media art artists. These include projection mapping by artist Kang I-yeon titled 'Finite,' virtual reality (VR) work '489 Years' by artist Kwon Ha-yoon, 'Angel Soldier' by artist Lee Yong-baek, and 'Ogamdo' by artist Jung Yeon-doo. All of these works explore contemporary Korean society within social and cultural contexts.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also hold a special exhibition dedicated to artist Nam June Paik. It will showcase 'Global Groove,' which experiments with global cultural fusion by mixing tradition and modernity, East and West, abstraction and representation, as well as 'Wrap Around the World,' an international satellite broadcasting project involving ten countries ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

An official from the Ministry explained, "We can experience the moment when the spirit of international solidarity envisioned by artist Nam June Paik is realized in France, the host of the world's greatest sports and cultural festival, the Olympics."

The exhibition is part of the '2024 Korea Season' program, which the Ministry has been running across France for six months since May to introduce Korean culture nationwide. It is expected to meet the high local interest in Korean art while showcasing the technical excellence of domestic artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and VR technologies.

A Ministry official stated, "All works provide new visual experiences through cutting-edge technology and convey the philosophical concerns of contemporary Korean artists," adding, "It will be an opportunity for people from around the world visiting Paris during the Olympics to gain a multidimensional understanding of Korea."