'Beautiful Festival' captures the soul of Korea

'Beautiful Festival' captures the soul of Korea

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cultural identity binds communities living far from home
together. Therefore, anything that can make such cultural
identity more recognizable both within and outside the community
is just another way of tightening the cohesion.

For his community, Korean calligraphy artist Sohn In-shik is
an effervescent link that binds his compatriots living in homes
away from home.

Calligraphy and ink painting are essential parts of Korean art
and their history dates back to the country's earliest dynasties.
Wise words and classical poems are usually the subjects of the
calligraphy while the use of Hangul (Korean traditional
characters) accentuates its artistic and philosophical facets.

And instead of canvas, In-shik uses hanji paper for his works.
Hanji is made mainly from the bark of the mulberry tree and is
very flexible so that it can be used with various media, like
ink, acrylic, gold dust and even coffee.

Also known as Maestro Injae, In-shik has gone to great efforts
to preserve and introduce the art of Korean calligraphy
highlighting Hangul, not only among his Korean friends living in
Jakarta but also the wider community, including Jakarta
residents.

And to mark his year-long work, In-shik -- supported by the
Embassy of the Republic of Korea here -- is to launch a book
documenting 146 of his calligraphic works at the Korean Center
Jakarta on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta on March 22.

The book, entitled Implanting and Cultivating Korean Culture
Abroad, Beautiful Festival, is proof of the continuous efforts
and profound passions of In-shik, who moved to Jakarta in April
2004 to spread Korea's traditional arts abroad.

"The book actually summarizes our year-long campaign to make
our culture known among local residents and also to tighten the
bonds between our community here," the embassy's press and
cultural attache Kim Sang-sool told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Beautiful Festival, as a cultural movement, was kicked off in
January 2004 by magazines such as Jakarta Korean News and Yang
Cheong-gil, and also through a series of art exhibitions held
throughout the year in the capital.

Among the prominent exhibitions were those held in the
National Museum and the Shangri-La Hotel in August last year.

"To us, these works of calligraphy and drawings are not just
common calligraphy. These are the realization of Korean
residents' emotions living in Indonesia," Sang-sool said.

"And we want to show the people here that we can demonstrate
our cultural identity through these works of art."

Dr. Kim Yong, English literature professor at Jakarta's
Indonesian Christian University (UKI), commented, "Through
Beautiful Festival, a search for cultural identity is happening
among our residents here in Indonesia ... and Maestro Injae makes
the proposition of finding Korean identity on an overseas stage
as the motive for his artistic creations."

"Now that the majority of our residents in Indonesia have
succeeded economically after hard work, this event has provided a
chance to make the emotional facet orderly through art," said
Kim, who is a close associate of In-shik.

A graduate of Sungkyunwan University majoring in calligraphy,
In-shik has lectured in colleges and universities, including Kangwon
University, Kyunghee University Graduate School, Jeonju
University, Hansung University and his alma mater.

In-shik has published over 60 different dissertations and
reviews on calligraphy and the literary arts, along with books on
academic theory.

His works produced for the 2004 Beautiful Festival -- all
printed in the book -- are not only now owned by Korean
institutions, communities, companies, schools and families, but
also by some Indonesians.

"All the works created as part of the Beautiful Festival will
hang in places here and there and proudly present the charm and
sentiment of Korean culture," said the chairman of the Korean
Association in Indonesia, Seung Eun-Ho, in the introduction to
the book.

Besides painting and writing, In-shik is now active in
teaching calligraphy at the Indonesian Foundation for Calligraphy
Studies.

History tells that diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Korea
have been progressively enhanced. Korea recognized the
independence of Indonesia in 1949, and August 1966 it was decided
to establish a consul-level relationship. Then in late 1973, the
two countries exchanged ambassadors.

Indonesia and Korea are major trading partners, and more than
570 Korean firms have been established in Indonesia. As a
consequence, the number of Koreans living here stands at some 30
thousand -- the biggest expatriate community in Indonesia.