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| 인터뷰하는 강정헌 예림원원장 |
Hello, I’m Kang Jeong Heon. I was born in 1965, here in Hwalgol village Nami-myeon, Geumsan.
Hwalgol village is named Hwalgol because the topography neighborhoods bends like a bow. I was born in this town, moved to Daejeon in the third grade, and studied art in Mokwon University. In the fourth grade, I met a great painter named Lee Kun Yong who introduced me to a new world of art.
I briefly introduced myself.
Geumsan is widely know as the representative region of ginseng. The ginseng capital of Korea is also the ginseng capital of the world. Geumsan is now famous for ginseng, but I think that in order to expand globally in the future, it needs to be very active not only in ginseng industry but also in cultural arts that can lead spiritually. I am currently working mainly in Daejeon, Also as the deputy chairman of the Korean Fine Arts Association, and have also received offers from all over the country to work with me. However, I had the thought, 'Maybe Geumsan can become the cultural and artistic center of the world,' and I wanted to contribute and help Geumsan become the cultural and artistic center of the world, so I established a cultural and artistic activity center called Yerimwon in my hometown Hwalgol.
In 2006, I established Yerimwon, and it has already been 18 years.
In the early days, I would use it as a studio, and friends who played Korean music would come and play small mountain concerts with the villagers. It has a natural environment with good water and air, so the people of Geumsan have come to do natural dyeing and preserve traditional culture such as traditional liquor and fermented soybean paste with our neighbors. Among the facilities is a small Korean dry sauna. I've also done some work on the floor and walls with my friends, rather than having someone else do it, as a way of saying ‘Let's keep our culture alive and substantial.’
These buildings are mostly built with soil and wood, which is very eco-friendly. We wanted to build a building that fits in with nature as much as possible, so we made the exterior of the building in the form of a traditional Korean house and used soil and wood as the building materials as much as possible. We also chose to build with soil and wood because it is beneficial for regulating humidity and preserving artworks.
I introduced Yerimwon.
we are currently working on creating an art group called the Hwalgol Art Project. The Hwalgol Art Project is centering here, Yerimwon in Hwalgol village and to expand its activities beyond Daejeon, Seoul, and Korea to New York, Paris, the United Kingdom and more globally.
The Hwalgol Art Project has a three main goals.
The first one is that each of the 10 members does a good work.
The second one is that we have experienced members, so we thought “let’s compile our experiences and thoughts into a book” So we have one goal of writing about art.
“Let’s do a Cultural arts education business” the thought is our the third goal. From the end of 2019, we were unable to do activities for about 2-3 years due to COVID-19, and partially operated in 2022, students and teachers from Nami Elementary School nearby came here once a spring and fall for art activities.
We've been doing a lot of creative work here, and in May 2023, we held the first exhibition here, called the Hwalgol Art Project.
There are 10 artists participating in the Hwalgol Art Project.
Professor Lee Kun Yong, in his early 80s, is the oldest member of the group. The younger artists among us are in their late 30s. Most groups are formed mainly by peers, but we are different from that, we are made up of different age groups, and this is because we don't want to be active only for one era and then it ends, but we want to continue to be active for the next generation, so we want to be a axis of the culture and art of Geumsan, and we also want to make Geumsan a center of world art along with Korean art that goes out to the world.
I would like to conclude my introduction to Yerimwon by expressing my sincere hope that many people who enjoy culture and art will be able to see the clear blue mountains and rivers of Geumsan and find healing and recover more health, both physically and mentally, so that we can lead happy and rewarding lives.
Thank you.
Kang, Jeong-Heon Artist Biography
6 solo exhibitions
350+ group exhibitions
Member of the Exhibition of Daejeon '78 Generation
Member of the Exhibition of Seoul Artisic Method
Member of the Exhibition of Daejeon Fine Art Village
Member of the Hwalgol Art Project
Deputy chairman of Korean Fine Arts Association
김미정 기자 elysium2j@gmail.com
