복원된 광화문 공개임박

Restored Gwanghwamun gets final touches

 

The restoration of the panel on Gwanghwamun bearing the historic gate’s name is expected to be finished Saturday.

It will be shown to the public on Aug. 15, Korea’s Liberation Day, during the unveiling ceremony of the new Gwanghwamun.

Oh Ok-jin, master engraver and Intangible Cultural Property No. 106, announced on Tuesday that he had completed engraving each of the three Chinese characters for “Gwang-hwa-mun” on the name panel.

Together, these three characters carry the meaning, “Bestowing the great virtues of a king upon the nation and its people.”

“The panel will be attached to Gwanghwamun on July 31 after receiving final Dancheong touches,” said an official from the Cultural Heritage Administration. Dancheong is the traditional multicolored paintwork on wooden buildings.

“But the signboard will be covered with fabric until Aug. 15 because the day is when the restored Gwanghwamun will be officially open to the public for the first time,” he added.

This new name panel, a restored version of the original signboard that was written by Lim Tae-young, head of the Gyeongbokgung reconstruction team and general in 1867, will replace the former one with former president Park Chung-hee’s handwritten Hangeul letters on it. This change is part of the Gwanghwamun restoration project that started in 2006.

The gate has more than 600 years of a stormy history. It was first built in the beginning of the Joseon dynasty during the reign of Taejo, Joseon’s first king, as the main gate of his palace, Gyeongbokgung.

Gwanghwamun, which has been under restoration since 2006, will be unveiled on Aug. 15, Korea’s Liberation Day.                                                                                                 Yonhap News

But it was burnt down during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Although it was rebuilt under the orders by Heungseon Daewongun in 1864, it was moved to make room for the Japanese Government General during Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Gwanghwamun was burnt down once again during the Korean War and was reconstructed during the Park Chung-hee government but in a modified way. The current project aims to recover Gwanghwamun’s original form.

Oh is following four steps to recreate the signboard as close to Lim’s as possible, based on a photo from the early 20th century that the National Museum of Korea restored in 2005.

First, five to six professional calligraphers meticulously revised the letters on Lim’s signboard shown on the photo. Then the revised letters were enlarged, made into life-size prints and glued to the wood that would be the new name panel. Oh then engraved the letters in the wood.

These three steps took about 20 days. Now there only remains the final step: Dancheong.

The new signboard will be almost exactly the same as the original one in its size and material, said the officials.

Approximately 428.5 cm wide, 173 cm long with 54cm long wings on the bottom part and 110cm wings on both sides, the signboard is the same size as that of Park’s or Lim’s.

Geumgang pine, which was used to build palaces since the Joseon dynasty and is also assumed to have been the main material for Lim’s signboard, is used again this time.

Meanwhile, some Hangeul academies are still arguing through rallies and media that the characters on the new name panel should be in Hangeul and not in Chinese.

But the Cultural Heritage Administration is standing firm.

“It is a principle that the sign panel should be restored just like what it looked like when Gyeongbokgung was restored. This is the deliberation results from the Cultural Properties Committee,” said Kim Won-ki, head of the Administration’s royal Palaces and Tombs Division.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

에르메스미술상 최종3인 후보 전시중!

Hermes award finalists display work

 

Three finalists of this year’s Hermes Foundation Missulsang, or art award, are showcasing their works at Atelier Hermes in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. The final winner, who will take home a plaque and a prize of 20 million won ($17,000), will be selected after the second deliberation on Sept. 2.

Established in 2000 to promote Korean culture and art through sponsorship for the artists, the annual award has put many talented artists such as Kim Beom, Suh Do-ho and Park Chan-kyong in the limelight.

This year’s finalists ― Yangachi, Bae Jong-heon, Park Jina ― were narrowed down from 10 nominees by five judges including Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi; Ahn Kyu-chul, artist and professor at Korean National University of Arts, Seoul; Song Mi-sook, honorary professor at Sungshin Women’s University; Saskia Bos, dean of Cooper Union, U.S.; and Stephanie Moisdon, independent curator.

Sponsored by the Hermes Foundation for new projects, the three finalists offer some peculiar and creative works at Atelier Hermes.

“The Mountain of Casper David Fredrich” (right) and “The Sea of Joseph Mallord William Turner,” both by Bae Jong-heon                                                                Atelier Hermes

Media artist Yangachi introduces a multi-view video series titled “Bright Dove Hyunsook” which is an extension of his recent “Surveillance Drama” series. The new series showcases various points of view including a human’s, a bird’s and several CCTV cameras’.

“We become different people depending on whether we are at work, with parents, friends or a lover. When you look at people from a multi-view, like from a bird’s point of view, then a human’s and then a CCTV’s, you can understand why people are acting in such a way at the moment,” Yangachi told the press last Thursday.

“Measuring Level” by Park Jina                                                                                Atelier Hermes

In the series, a Korean woman named Hyunsook wears a hat with a dove on top and wanders around the neighborhood in Buam-dong in central Seoul and in Dosan Park, just in front of Atelier Hermes, swinging her arms and making dove-like noises.

“Doves and CCTVs are very alike. They are numerous in the city, people hate it when they are too close but just ignore them when they are not so near,” Yangachi added.

The installation view of Yangachi’s media work “Bright Dove Hyunsook – Dove view”                                                                                                                                           Atelier Hermes

Inspired by the global climate change issue and fed up with the vague weather forecasts and research, Bae proposes a new project, “A weather forecast,” to question how the scientific analysis of observing and studying natural phenomena has come to control our lives and society.

Bae Jong-heon

One of the most interesting works of the project is “My own weather forecast” in which Bae appears on the TV screen to give the day’s weather forecast for different spots inside his house using his homemade gadgets.

Park Jina

“I didn’t want to make any obvious, outdated works so I created things based on my own personal experiences,” said Bae.

Two of his automatic installations ― “The mountain of Caspar David Friedrich” and “The sea of Joseph Mallord William Turner” ― which he took from Friedrich and Turner’s masterpieces are eye-catching as well.

Yangachi

“I found it interesting how Friedrich thought of nature as a subject to conquer while Turner considered it as greatly powerful. Personally, I think humans are destroying nature. You will see what I mean when you take a look at the works from behind,” said Bae.

Looking from behind, visitors will be surprised to see that the paintings were done on a canvas made from wastes like ramen and cracker packages connected together.

Park’s works are relatively monotonous, compared to Yangachi and Bae’s adventurous works, but unique in their own way. She took snap shots of people installing artworks at a gallery or an art museum, getting ready to hold an exhibition, and painted the scenes on canvas.

“Art museums and galleries are spaces that have special purposes. They are made to be considered as familiar but actually change all the time. I wanted to capture the special place,” said Park.

The 2010 Hermes Foundation Missulsang Exhibition runs through Sep. 19 at Atelier Hermes on the third floor of Maison Hermes Dosan Park in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. For more information, call (02) 544-7722.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

 

 

언어의그늘_스페인현대미술특별전 리뷰

Spanish collection marks relations with Korea

 

Spain has much more than just its incredible World Cup-winning soccer players. Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, better known as MACBA, is another of Spain’s sources of pride.

Established in 1995, MACBA has a rather short history compared to other prestigious national art museums around the world. But thanks to MACBA founder and director Bartomeu Mari’s foresight, MACBA soon became one of the world’s most acclaimed museums specializing in conceptual art.

“The Shadow of Speech” exhibition, currently underway at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, is offering visitors the chance to see 138 brilliant conceptual art pieces by 68 European artists, straight from the MACBA collection. The exhibition is celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Spain and Korea.

“Speech signifies that one is alive. But before it is spoken, language cannot make shadows by itself because it cannot be seen, like air. It can only make shadows when it is spoken,” said Mari at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The exhibition implies that language can be spoken not only through speech but also through artworks, movies and more. Most exhibits have little twists that either make visitors laugh or deepen the intended message.

Divided into eight divisions ― “It Starts In Poetry,” “Towards Writing,” “Towards Another Geometry,” “Towards Actionism,” “The Political Action,” “Media And Power,” “The Future Of Cinema”and “Theatre And Play” ― the exhibition invites visitors to see an array of paintings, installations and media art. These can all be considered results and shadows of speech ― in a unique European way of thinking, the organizers said.

“Construction of the Matrix” by Francesc Torres                                                                    MACBA

The first three divisions showcase works that are literally about language and speech. Marcel Broodthaers, a Belgian artist and poet, visualized poetry by coloring the words in poems black and merged old fashion 16mm film in another work to criticize poetry.

Tapies Antoni, a renowned Spanish informalism artist, expressed a profound message about the components of words through his metaphorical work “Cross and R” in which most of its materials ― sand, fabric, stones, paint and pencil traces ― are in their original state and visible on the canvas.

It is in the “Towards Actionism” section that the exhibition starts to get extra philosophical. Some Spanish artists seem to be still affected by the trauma of the dictatorial Franco regime which took place in Spain from 1938 to 1978.

“Vassels: Worship of the Mother” by Eulalia Valldosera                                                                                            MACBA

Francesc Torres’ work “Construction of the Matrix,” which was first shown at the 1976 Venice Biennale, is a good example of the influence of the regime.

Torres built a small hill made of sand, rocks and empty bullet shells to symbolize the regime. A bible, which the regime was established upon, and the Communist Manifesto, which the regime was strongly opposed to, each lay open under lamps on opposing slopes. The most astonishing part of the work is the faint silhouette of a fetus projected on the hill, just below a pair of dangling scissors.

“The time was when the Franco regime was about to collapse and new things were about to begin. The fetus, which symbolizes the future of the nation, was to be born as soon as its umbilical cord was cut off, but no one was sure what it would be like,” said Kang Soo-jung, curator of the exhibition.

Another Spanish artist Reimundo Patino resisted the dictatorship by painting a cartoon titled “The Man whoSpoke Vegliota” using the Galician language which was forbidden in Spain at the time. The painting, of course, could not be shown in public back then.

“You can see that, in a way, Spain and Korea have a very similar history,” said Kang.

A less serious but also a meaningful piece is “Vassels: Worship of the Mother” by Eulalia Valldosera in the “Theatre And Play” section.

Valldosera created shadows that appear like female silhouettes by placing detergents in front of beam projectors. Her whimsical way of lining up different sized bottles to express a mother getting fatter as she ages and weakens through time makes visitors realize that the very items women use when doing housework resembles their figures.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 3 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets range from 2,500 won to 5,000 won. For more information, call (02) 2188-6114 or visit www.moca.go.kr.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

2010 베니스 건축 비엔날레 한국관 작가+커미셔너 인터뷰

Seoul’s past, present and future to be shown in Venice

 

A discussion between six middle-aged architects over the final details about the Korean pavilion was heating up Atelier 17, Kwon moon-sung’s architect office in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul.

Kwon, commissioner of the Korean pavilion for this year’s Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition, and the five architects -- Cho Jung-goo, Lee Sang-koo, Lee Chung-kee, Shin Seung-soo, Hah Tesoc -- who will be representing the nation in Venice from August to November, have been holding more than 50 meetings like this during the past five months.

“Barcity vs citybar” by Shin Seung-soo                                                                  Shin Seung-soo

“The biennale is just one month away. Now is the busiest time. We usually hold meetings late at night around 10 p.m. because we all have to be at our jobs in the daytime. Today’s an exception,” Kwon told The Korea Herald.

Founded in 1980, Venice Biennale is one of world’s three major biennales along with the Sao Paulo Biennale and Whitney Biennale. The art exposition takes place on odd-numbered years, while the architecture exhibition takes place in the even-numbered years.

Korea and Japan are the only two Asian countries among 25 nations around the world that have their own pavilion at the prestigious architecture festival. This year is the seventh time that Korea is participating in the biennale. Led by director Kazuyo Sejim, the 12th biennale is to be held under the theme “People meet in architecture” from Aug. 29 to Nov. 21 at Castello Gardens and Arsenale in Venice, Italy.

Kwon chose the theme “Re-place-ing, Documentary of Changing Metropolis Seoul” for the Korean pavilion.

“We picked a theme that is familiar to Koreans but could pique the curiosities of foreigners. It is an interesting procedure how Seoul changed its look as it went through rapid economic growth, a concentrated population, the Korean War and more. The exhibition will particularly focus on the historical meanings, influences and the future of apartment houses and public spaces,” said Kwon.

The Korean pavilion will be in a form of a “Hanok,” or traditional Korean-style house, because the experts agreed that it is probably the original form of Korean-style architecture. Kwon said that he also hopes the place will act as a resting place for the Biennale visitors.

The Korean pavilion will be set up like a Hanok that visitors can take a rest in. Cho Jung-goo

“The Korean pavilion is placed at the end of the Biennale venue. So if visitors circle around the place, our pavilion will be at the mid-point. We hope the visitors can meet in the Korean pavilion,’” said Kwon.

An important task was to make the works by five architects to blend together and appear like something created by a single person or team. After numerous discussions, the architects came up with an organized format divided into three big sections, with each representing Seoul’s past, present and future. Each participant sat down to share their thoughts and introduce their works to The Korea Herald.



Section A -- “Seoul’s past” by Cho Jung-goo and Lee Sang-koo



Cho: People think Seoul is changing too quickly, leaving no original traces, but I know that the older parts of Seoul are still vividly present. It is important that we rediscover the values and treasure them as we develop the city.

(From left) Kwon moon-sung, Shin Seung-soo, Lee Sang-koo, Cho Jung-goo, Hah Tesoc and Lee Chung-kee discuss the final details of the Korean pavilion.                                                                                                          Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald

I sought to be very meticulous in depicting the streets, alleys and buildings of the areas near the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, including Naesu-dong, Naeja-dong and Hyoja-dong, into a six meter wide and 3.8 meter-long pen drawing. It appears like a view you’ll see when you are flying.

One of the alleys is made into a miniature model, complete with tiny houses and yards. I wanted to show that the history of our city and the traces of our lives are still alive.

Lee: Cities are supposed to be made by the people who actually live there. But ever since the start of the 20th century, we started to live in cities that somebody else designed. I was, therefore, moved to look into cities that its own residents had created. It is important that we learn from what we already have.

Cho: It is also my job to turn the Korean pavilion into a Hanok. I am taking the wood from an actual Hanok that used to be in Hyehwa-dong and modifying the sizes a little bit. It will not be a full Hanok complete with a tiled roof, but you will be able to see the architectural essence from the wooden structures.

It is not only an effort to show the value of Hanok as a living space but also to show the ironical situation of Seoul, where some places like the Bukchon village well preserves the Hanok but other places virtually destroy the Hanok in the name of redevelopment.



Section B -- “Seoul’s present” by Lee Chung-kee and Shin Seung-soo



Lee: Section B aims to show how many parts of the city, which is several hundred years old, is getting erased and replaced in a flash. Seoul is a city of apartments. We will be exhibiting every possible research result and historical document about apartments in the nation’s capital.

One of them is a digital map depicting the number of apartment buildings. Because the dark circles represent the congested areas, the finished map turned out to look like Swiss cheese.

We will also display photos of apartment buildings along the Han River, which plainly reveal how they are blocking the mountains and the river. I am not trying to say that it is bad or good. It is just to show the facts.

Some interesting research results will be exhibited as well, like how long or high it will be when all apartments of the city are lined up or sideways.

Shin: Based on our research, when all of Korea’s apartments are lined sideways, it can go around the earth three times.

Lee: Or it can cover the whole city of Seoul.

Shin: I subtitled my part of the exhibition ‘space bar.’ Like how the space bar on the keyboard makes spaces between words so that the following word can be written down, public places provide spaces between apartments to enable the next apartment to be placed nearby.

Public places contain memories and conversations between people filling up the space. Considering the main theme of the biennale, “People meet in architecture,” I expressed how people meet at and use public spaces, using cartoons.

Our living spaces are pretty much blocked from others by retaining and soundproofing walls. This cartoon will be like a mini scenario about how we can get the fragmented individuals to communicate with each other and about the relationship between apartments, public places and external spaces.



Section C -- “Seoul’s future” by Hah Tesoc



Hah: The problem with today’s apartment buildings is that consumers have only one way, a very passive way, of getting an apartment -- moving into one that is ready-made by some architect. And there are only two or three models.

Because everyone lives in such a standardized space, the whole city seemed to be somehow shut up in anonymity.

So I am proposing a way that enables everyone to create their own apartments that perfectly fit into each of their lifestyles. This way, the city can exude a unique identity.

One can simply download the smartphone application I made for the phone and input it as one’s source for lifestyle information. Just the right type of neighbors and apartment units that perfectly match the user’s lifestyle will be suggested. As more information is collected, cities with different identities can be created.

A beam projector will shoot this whole city-building process onto all of the six walls in section C, turning the space into a virtual apartment. Visitors can participate with the smartphones equipped at the venue or at home with their smartphones.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

백남준 미망인 자서전 발간

Paik’s widow reveals artist’s inner side

 

For an artist, his or her lover is one of the biggest inspirations.

Late Korean video artist Paik Nam-june and his Japanese wife Shigeko Kubota, who is also a video artist, were inspirations for each other.

“We often had the same ideas. I had to put my work ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ inside the house for quite a time and one day saw that Nam-june had made a work called ‘V-yramid.’ I asked him what it was about, and he said ‘I couldn’t help but see ‘Duchamp’s Grave’ everyday, whether I wanted to or not.’ He was inspired by my work,” said Kubota at a press conference on Tuesday.

“We were both artists but he was a philosopher and musician who is more symbolic and idealistic, while I majored in physical art like paintings and sculptures. I encouraged Nam-june to show his works to more audiences so that more people could enjoy his work.”

Kubota published the book, “My Love, Paik Nam-june,” which reveals previously unknown sides of Paik’s struggles, efforts and of course, their love story. Two authors, including Nam Jeong-ho, an international news editor at a local newspaper, helped Kubota organize her memories into writings.

The book starts with Kubota’s reminiscence of Paik’s very first performance that she saw in Tokyo, on May 29, 1964, which made her fall in love with the man.

Seeing Paik’s “grotesque” performance of throwing eggs against the walls, torturing two pianos with his bare hands, hooks and axes until they broke down, painting a picture with Chinese black ink using his head as a brush and finally drinking water from his leather shoes, Kubota “felt as if I had found an oasis in the desert of my mind, where there used to be only wind and sand,” she wrote in the book.

Shigeko Kubota speaks at a press conference held at The Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on Tuesday.                                                                                           Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald

“I loved him because he was so talented and was a genius. Even before I knew him, he was a legendary person in Tokyo. When you talked to him, you knew he was very special. He had knowledge about everything, from high art to low art,” said Kubota.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Paik grew up listening to the piano his sisters played everyday, said Kubota. But whenever Paik hung around the piano, his father scolded him, saying that pianos are not for boys because they cannot make a living out of it. Not surprisingly, his father was furious when Paik announced that he would study music composition instead of law or business like his father told him to.

“That was only the beginning of his struggles as an artist. After his father died, Nam-june had no money. His mother used to say ‘spend money like water’ but Nam-june did not have money to do so. You know, it is easy to sell food in the supermarket but it is hard to sell art,” said Kubota.

Paik moved to New York, the mecca for artists, met Kubota, and the two fell in love.

“Being so poor, Nam-june didn’t want to get married and be responsible for his family but just wanted to concentrate on his art. That was his style of life, which I understood,” said Kubota.

Paik’s stubborn resistance against marriage broke down, however, finding out about Kubota’s uterine cancer. As Kubota had no insurance coverage in the U.S. and had to return to Japan for treatment, Paik proposed to her right away.

Another thing Paik was generous with, despite his lack of money, was buying materials for his works, Kubota remembered.

“One day, Nam-june brought home an ugly looking Buddha that he had bought at an antique store. Using it, he showcased his first ‘TV Buddha’ at an exhibition in Bonino Gallery, and it received great response. I thought ‘Oh, this guy is a genius.’ I couldn’t complain about how he uses money!” she said.

“This is a book for young artists to tell them to never give up. Everyone is poor in the beginning. Nam-june didn’t become a big artist in one day. Someday, it will happen to you. Art has more chance than Wall Street, you know,” added Kubota.

“There were a lot more sensational stories that Kubota told me, said Nam “But I couldn’t write it in the book because the people involved are still alive. The book still contains very dramatic stories.”

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

올리브앤코; 미술작품이 그려진 티셔츠

Wear your art on your short sleeve

 

Some of Korea’s hottest contemporary artists have been offered a new way to promote their works -- through fashion.

Olive & Company, an apparel trading firm based in Korea, joined hands with Gana Art Gallery and Gallery LVS and launched a fashion brand named “Olivenco” last week.

The brand features T-shirts and bags featuring artworks by 13 artists such as Bae Bien-u, Seo Sukwon, Mari Kim, Wee Young-il and Kang Young-min.

“This will be an opportunity to familiarize the public with high-end culture and promote Korean artists in the world market,” said Olive Kim, president of Olive & Company, at a press conference last week.

While there have been collaborations between artists and companies that produce various goods like stationery, clothes, furniture and cars, the launching of Olivenco is notable because it is not another one-time project but a brand with long-term goals, aiming for the overseas market.

Artist Kang Young-min’s painting and T-shirts featuring his works                                      Olivenco

The brand’s lines will be distributed worldwide through specialty chain stores which include GAP, Limited too, Express and Chico’s. Olivenco already inked a contract with GAP to export 2.5 million T-shirts to the U.S. market starting August or September.

Olivenco expects to make more than 12 billion won ($10 million) worth of sales per year through the exportations, explained Kim.

“We plan on increasing the number of participating artists to 100 with the help from Gana Art Gallery and Gallery LVS. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami leaped to fame after collaborating with Louis Vuitton. We want to set examples like that,” said Kim. 　

Once the artists successfully gain recognition in other countries through the T-shirt sales, the organizers will hold steady exhibitions for the artists there, said Kim. Olivenco will also work with non-profit groups such as UNICEF, Jeju Olle, Another Way of Seeing and World Art Therapy Association.

Olivenco products are sold through G market and at www.olivenco.com. T-shirt prices range from 49,000 won to 59,000 won. Offline shops will soon open at Gana Art Gallery in Pyeongchang-dong and at Garosugil in Sinsa-dong.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

아이들을 위한 여름방학 전시

Cool off with the kids at exhibitions

 

One of the safest ways of entertaining kids who are already tired of the heat and bored with their long summer vacation could be taking them to a cool exhibition. Here are some exhibitions that are attracting the little ones.



Trick Art Exhibition



Water spills from cups and animals appear to be pushing through the walls -- all within the frames at “Trick Art Exhibition” currently underway at KINTEX in Goyang city, Gyeonggi Province.

The exhibition offers 160 paintings, media art and installations that create fun optical illusions. The key of making such trompe-l‘œil art is to make the painting as detailed as possible and to add a cover of special paint on top.

Divided into seven sections, the show covers pictures that feature animals, fish, dinosaurs, everyday objects and even parodied masterpieces.

Visitors make comical gestures in front of a painting at the “Trick Art Exhibition.”                                                                                                                                     Trick Art Exhibition

SBS Play Science Experience Exhibition



KINTEX is also holding an exhibition that teaches kids all about cars, science and nature. “SBS Play Science Experience Exhibition” is divided into two sections -- Kids Motor Show and Play Pump.

At the Kids Motor Show section, Kids can see the insides of real cars and learn the basic science of cars by watching and performing various experiments.

Children can also learn road safety rules, draw their dream cars of the future and drive racing karts at a specially prepared track.

The Play Pump section features a special device from South Africa that pumps up water when kids play with it, turning on the knobs. Kids can naturally learn about the importance of water and saving the environment as they play, surrounded by endangered animal characters.



Neverland



Supported by Crown-Haitai Confectionery Co., Korea’s second-largest snack maker, Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul, offers a unique exhibition titled “Neverland,” which is packed with 100 paintings, sculptures, installations and video works by 20 Korean artists that feature crackers and snack boxes.

A gigantic helicopter hangs from the ceiling and various animal models such as sheep, goats and donkeys are placed in every nook and corner with comical expressions on their faces. They are made of materials familiar to children -- sweets and cracker boxes.

A related exhibition is underway at the gallery in Crown-Haitai’s headquarters office in Namyoung-dong, Seoul, as well. It aims to educate kids on various art and scientific techniques while looking at exhibits and listening to fairytales about snacks and crackers.

“Trick Art Exhibition” runs through Aug. 20 at the third hall in KINTEX in Goyang city, Gyeonggi Province. The nearest subway station is Daehwa station, line number three, exits one and two. Tickets range from 6,000 won to 12,000 won. For more information, call (02) 789-1009 or visit www.mbctrickart.com.

“SBS Play Science Experience Exhibition” runs through Aug. 22 at the second hall in KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Tickets are 13,000 won each for Play Pump and Kids Motor Show. For details, call (02) 747-5811 or visit www.sbslovei.com.

“Neverland” runs through Aug. 29 at Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul. Tickets range from 5,000 won to 8,000 won. For more information, call (02) 580-1300 or visit www.sac.or.kr.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)