The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in the Philippines and the National Hangeul Museum are currently hosting the exhibition "Reinterpreting Hangeul in the Modern Era” until February 28, 2025 at the KCC Philippines' 5th Floor Multipurpose Hall. The Philippine leg of this traveling exhibition, previously shown in Vietnam and Hong Kong, commemorates 75 years of friendship between Korea and the Philippines. As part of the Hangeul Experiment Project by the National Hangeul Museum, this exhibition aims to make Hangeul more accessible and intuitive by showcasing the diversity of Hangeul through a multi-dimensional approach.
During the exhibit’s Opening Ceremony last September 5, Kim Eunjae, one of the exhibition curators, gave a tour of several pieces featured in the exhibition. The 11 artworks showcase different art forms, spanning from visual design, furniture design, and audio-visual presentation. She started the tour with a brief introduction of Hangeul and Hunminjeongeum, a manuscript that documented the invention of Hangeul. This served as a foundation for understanding the different artworks on display.
한HAN글文 by Lee Hwayoung, a two-panel transparent screen, represents an open book and symbolizes how Hangeul paved the way for Korea’s opening to the world. What attracted me to this artwork are its vibrant colors and the overlapping pixel-like graphical elements that show two eyes, hands, and feet, alongside the words “sky”, “human”, and “earth” in three languages - Korean, English, and Chinese. This piece felt very futuristic and represents a modern application of Hangeul and its interconnection with different world languages. The curator explained that this artwork is inspired by the Ahakpyeon or the Children’s Book of Chinese Characters, which also contains information in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and English.
TYO-TCHAN-SYO by Lee Sulki is another multilingual exhibition that combines Korean and French through a reinterpretation of Grammaire Coréenne, a Korean grammar book by French missionary Félix Clair Ridel in 1881. As a Korean language student, this visual representation of the different conjugations of 됴타 (tyo-hta/good) piqued my interest as it illustrates the different conjugation patterns by having each character represented by a specific colored movable type accessory. Each conjugation is also placed side-by-side with its French definition.
Another artwork that integrates Grammaire Coréenne is Unfamiliarity, Newsness and Fusion by Lee Chungchung which merges both Western and Korean cultures through fashion. The two mannequins wear outfits that combine Western clothing such as trench coats and jackets with the structure of the hanbok. Each piece of clothing and mannequin is printed with snippets from the grammar book that juxtaposes French and Korean vocabulary.
As part of the opening ceremony, Daegum (Korean flute) soloist Kim Hyelim and percussionist Kim Hannah performed a special musical number for the attendees. It was my first time to listen to live Korean instruments and both musicians have a wonderful performance that enhanced the artistic vibe of the venue.
Aside from the artworks, the Exhibition of Hangeul Cultural Products by the National Hangeul Museum is also on display at the 1st Floor Permanent Exhibition Hall. Some of the pieces that caught my eye were Tape Dispenser by Park Jeongeun and Lee Seohee and Hangeul Object Collection by vergum. Both products are 3D representations of Hangeul characters that creates decorative and functional objects such as tape dispensers, smartphone stands, pen holders, and magnets.
The exhibition introduced me to different explorations of contemporary applications of Hangeul that go beyond its linguistic purpose and possibilities to integrate it with different languages and with various design fields. As Director Kim Il-hwan from the National Hangeul Museum mentioned in his opening remarks, the exhibition is an opportunity for the Philippines and Korea to gain an appreciation of both cultures.
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