Korean Art exhibit comes to town to mark bilateral friendship
Korean Art exhibit comes to town to mark bilateral friendship
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
In-Shik Shon's works won't get lost in translation because even though they are all in Hangul (Korean characters), the beauty of the composition of lines, circles and curves and the attractive colors as well as shading is more than enough to compensate for our illiteracy.
Without intending to limit his audience, Maestro Injae In-Shik Shon deliberately uses Hangul to highlight his Korean identity.
His calligraphy is part of an exhibition held here to mark the 31th anniversary of Korean-Indonesia friendship and the 20th celebration of Seoul and Jakarta as sister cities. The exhibition is jointly organized by the Korean Embassy and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
True to his theme, In-Shik Shon uses Hanji paper instead of canvas. Hanji is made mainly from the bark of the mulberry tree. The oldest piece among authentic Hanji is Mugujungwang Daedarani Kyung in Sukga Pagoda at Pulguksa and Baekjimukseo Hwaomkyung. Its year of production can be traced to the 13th King Kyoung-Duk (A.D. 755) of the Shinra Kingdom.
He uses a variety of mediums including ink, acrylic, gold dust and coffee.
How to express rather than what to express toward objects is always the concern I face as an artist, because the medium will determine how long the finished work can endure, the maestro said in his book Injae, In-shik Shon's Hunminjongum of Love.
"Anyway, beyond my works, I think that a certain harmony has been achieved through Hangul and Hanji in this exhibition," he added.
Through his works In-Shik Shon shows a rare talent for sublimating the traditional calligraphy method using ink and brush with other mediums, adding abstract shapes to convey his particular message or poem.
The accompanying texts are in both English and Korean. --Emmy Fitri
Korean Art Exhibition; Aug. 18 through Aug. 21 at Hotel Shangri- la Ballroom C; and Aug. 23 until Aug. 29 at National Museum, Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur, Central Jakarta