Neighborhood watch

Did you know that Yeonhui-dong area was seriously considered by Jeoson dynasty founders for their new capital (nowadays Seoul)? They eventually chose Bugaksan instead of Ansan because the place could be defended more easily, but Sinchon owes its name (new village) to that period, and King Sejong loved the place so much he built a palace for his father. Unfortunately, nothing remains of it and no one knows where Yeonhuigung was precisely erected. I guess somewhere along what is now Yeonhui-ro, not far from Yeonhuimat-gil, where a streamlet used to flow a few decades ago: according to feng shui, you had to have a 'ying' mountain behind you, and a 'yang' river below.

Anyway. It was then said that some day, kings would live here. And it turns out that two former presidents have a residence in Yeonhui-dong (Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo), and that former president Kim Dae-jung used to live just a few blocks away, in Donggyo-dong (and to shop at Saruga, then the country's first supermarket). Note that Chun and Roh share ROK army backgrounds, and that land was granted to high ranking officers in the area following the Korean War: fierce combats raged in Yeonhui-dong around Hill 104, a strategic position, and a gateway to the Capital.

These days, Roh Tae-woo is very ill and Chun Doo-hwan seldom leaves home. As is the custom for former presidents, their residences are heavily guarded, and you can tell when a big fish is visiting by the insigna of the people waiting outside. Guards have to live in the vicinity, and a whistleblower recently revealed that the crew in charge of protecting Chun used, free of charge, a building within the Seoul Art Space Yeonhui* domain (next to his residence), and that the contract would expire on April 30th.

Last year, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon received a welcomed last minute boost for his election when a scandal broke out regarding the future personal protection of President Lee Myung-bak (suspicious land acquisitions for his retirement place and security facilities). In this even bigger election year, chances are he won't renew a contract that ensures for free, in the most charming public residence for writers, the protection of a former dictator.

Seoul Village 2012
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*see "Seoul Art Space Yeonhui"

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UPDATE 20120208

As expected, Seoul Metropolitan Government won't renew the contract: "Chun's security detail to be booted off city land" (in today's Korea JoongAng Daily)

SeMA to block blockbusters

Seoul's blockbuster exhibition frenzy* may cool down a few notches. As we saw over the past few years, Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Klimt, Rodin, Warhol, or Chagall came to town in unprecedented waves, while at the other end of the spectrum, younger generations got a pretty nice share of spotlight**. Unsurprisingly, confirmed Korean artists didn't receive the attention they deserved, so the new head of the Seoul Museum of Art wants to switch to a more balanced diet*** (NB: I promise, that's it for my f***g ***s today).

Even if it doesn’t look as impressive as the massive Seoul Art Center complex in Seocho-gu, SeMA does have a lot of space to fill, but it's split between different venues. Until now, the editorial line looked (a little bit) like this:

• for power hitters: the main building in Jung-gu (former Supreme Court HQ in Seosomun). Bonus: print and TV ads, plus bright flag advertising banners all along Deoksugung-gil.
• for minor league players: a small yet cute Nam Seoul annex in Gwanak-gu (the former Belgian Embassy in Namhyeon-dong). Bonus: subliminal pop-ups on SeMA’s website.
• for little league toddlers: an architectural mess at the entrance of Gyeonghuigung (picture the roof of Munich Olympiastadion next to a royal palace – Prada Transformer did a much better job for the contrast). Bonus: the place seems to open only between 2.37 and 3.45 AM on certain holidays every leap year (of course I’m exaggerating: I remember among other successes a recent Seoul Photo Festival)
• Note that SeMA also acts as an incubator for promising artists in Mapo-gu (Nanji Art Space in Sangam-dong, in the Seoul Art Space spirit)

Significantly, these days, SeMA stars Yann Arthus Bertrand in yet another photo expo milking his Earth from Above series and Home movie ("It's my home"). Seosomun building also hosts a less advertized show about "Korean Abstract Painting - 10 Perspectives", and chances are I won't go all the way down South to see the most original program ("Where's my friend's home?" almost seems tailored for the Seoul Museum of History).

Typically, the new boss, who only took over a few days ago, wants to make more room for Korean artists in their 40s and 50s, and why not, to push beyond walls, towards the charming walkway of Deoksugung-gil (the museum gardens were already used as a stage in recent expos, and a couple of years ago, a trio of bronze sculptures featured at KIAF 2008 has been permanently installed across the entrance, by the palace walls).

It would take a Paik Nam-june to bring the same crowds as the blockbusters of the Noughties, but I don’t think that’s the aim of the game anymore. It’s not about flash events featuring big brands, but about brand building for art itself: now people must come even when there isn't a big name. Museum executives used to outsource the organization to a well connected producer: they will now have to do their jobs, and to contribute to a vast pedagogy effort that must also involve the media and school systems.

If SeMA already contributed a lot to the democratization of modern and contemporary art in Seoul, it cannot fulfill all its missions and fill all its venues with blockbusters occulting the rest (which also includes such recurrent events as the Media Art Biennale or the Print Biennal). So it can leave classic blockbusters to say the SAC, and devote more energy to more ambitious programs and to permanent collections... even if, of course, it cannot build as extensive a collection as the MOCA's (SeMA does propose a decent exhibition of its New acquisitions every year, though).

Speaking of the National Museum Of Contemporary Art: here too, a new chief has just been named this very week. Among the big challenges: preparing the inauguration of the "UUL National Art Museum" next year (reminder: the former Defense Security Command in Sogyeok-dong, a future landmark).

This period of fine tuning in normal considering the boom of the past years, as Seoul caught up with fellow world capitals in cultural infrastructures. As a younger player, it can learn from past mistakes. For instance, as a Parisian, it's interesting to see how long it took for the Musee d'Art Moderne to adapt to the new 'competitive environment' following the success of Centre George Pompidou.

To be continued.

Seoul Village 2012
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*"Gustav Klimt at Seoul Arts Center - Pompidou at SeMA"

** see for instance the ASYAAF series

**"SeMA to shift away from 'blockbuster' exhibitions" (Korea JoongAng Daily 20120206)

Seoul International Book Fair

Organized by the Korean Publishers Association, the 17th Seoul International Book Fair will start next week at the COEX, featuring over 570 companies from 23 countries, and sub-exhibitions on the Tripitaka Koreana (for its 1000th anniversary*), Korean writers of 100 years ago, pop-up books, e-books (e-Square)...

Korean literature suffers from a destructive educational system that makes reading a luxury for young minds, which explains the success or more 'operational' genres. But the country enjoys a strong tradition in poetry, and some talents are claiming international recognition (see Shin Kyung-sook's "Please Look After Mom").


And who knows ? Korea could even become a destination for foreign authors : after a recent lecture at Seoul Art Space Yeonhui, 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature JMG Le Clezio Reasons seriously considers staying in that writers residence for a future project.

SIBF - 2011 Seoul International Book Fair
When: June 15-19, 2011 (first day only for pros)
Where: COEX, 159 Samseong-dong, Seoul, KOR 135-731 (Hall A and B)
More details: sibf.or.kr

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* see "Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon" and last year's "International Archival Culture Exhibition"

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20110610 UPDATE

Also : UN/LIMITED EDITION VOL.3, a fair devoted to independent publishing, is organised at PLATOON KUNSTHALLE (Nonhyeon-dong 97-22, Gangnam-gu), Friday, June 17 at 1:00pm - June 18 at 11:00pm). And "this year, the program will dig deeper into the creative network surrounding this culture including films, talks and music."
unlimited-edition.org

Seoul Art Space Yeonhui

Inaugurated late 2009, Seoul's first writers residency has already become the ultimate destination for Korean writers, but Seoul Art Space Yeonhui also welcomes a few foreigners. And in this quiet oasis at the heart of the city, literature almost becomes a performing art.

Of course, writing is a solitary process that doesn't require much more than a pen and some paper... or the more or less modern equivalent (from ye olde Underwood typewriter to your latest digital tablet gizmo). But as every writer knows, it does take a little bit more than that, and your direct environment is of the essence. If some need to feel some animation around (exhibit A: the cliche of a chain smoking coffee guzzling weirdo scrawling over the table of a Parisian cafe), most long for quietness and peace (exhibit B: the cliche of a zen caligrapher in a traditional house on a remote island). Writers being humans, they ideally require a certain mix of privacy and social interactions, and writers residencies focus on this fragile comfort zone, providing as a bonus social interactions with fellow scribblers sharing the same delicate moment.

Seoul Art Space Yeonhui reaches beyond the usual hosting services to writers*, from supporting literary activities to international networking. Furthermore, the site is open to everyone and gives all Seoulites a unique opportunity to attend public lectures, or simply to enjoy a stroll in a charming site. After all, literature doesn't belong to anyone but to everybody, and this is a public initiative. Like other Seoul Art Space / artists residencies**, Yeonhui center is operated by the SFAC : the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture are also in charge of such events as the Hi Seoul Festival, and their aim is to make Seoul a creative cultural city by leading all citizens to participate in arts.

Giving a cultural purpose to abandoned sites lies at the root of the Seoul Art Space concept, and this one used to host the City Story Compilation Committee of Seoul but hadn't been used for half a decade. So when the metropolitan government considered selling the place, SFAC had the good idea to transform it into a "literary nest".

During my visit yesterday in this "literary nest", under a bright sun and between two subzero cold waves, many birds were singing. I mean literally - I did meet a couple of creative residents but here, on the top of a small hill overlooking Yeonhui-dong, you do hear birds sing : no traffic noise, and you quickly forget that you're in the middle of an hyperactive megalopolis.

You're welcomed by a metal gate composed with Korean alphabet (definitely more zen than Elvis' Graceland) and a wall of fame with the handprints of famous contemporary Korean authors, but your eyes are immediately attracted to the peaceful setting : four low rise buildings surrounded by pine trees, a winding path following a gentle slope with mountain tops in every directions, a cute outdoor theater to give or listen to lectures from writers who sometimes turn into actual performers... The ideal nest indeed, complete with a Literary Media Lab and even an Artists' Playground.

At least in Seoul, being an author is not always a curse.

Seoul Art Space Yeonhui
203-1 Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul
e-mail: gomgom@sfac.or.kr
Tel: +82.2.324.4622, +82.2.324.4600
website: eng.seoulartspace.or.kr/G04_yeonhui
Business hours : from 10 AM to 5 PM Monday to Friday (closed on New Year's Day, Lunar New Year's Day, Thanksgiving)
SFAC : english.sfac.or.kr
ADDENDUM 20110211 - 2 more SAS Yeonhui links :
. Facebook page : facebook.com/sas.yeonhui
. on Twitter : @yeonhui1105

Seoul Village 2011

* Poets, novelists, playwrights, literary critics, translators of Korean literature, authors of children's books may apply, generally for one to three months (ideal for a book leave). They must use their private writing studio at least 15 days a month. Note that the fees are very low: 5,500 won per 3.3m2 (VAT included) for a writing studio. More about residency applications on the website.
** others centers are more devoted to plastic or performing arts: Seogyo (Hongdae, experimental arts), Geumcheon (multi-art projects), Sindang (creative arcade, studio, crafts), Gwanak (children playground), Seongbuk (art therapy and creativity), Mullae (arts village inaugurated last week, performance), Hongeun (eco friendly) - see all Seoul Art Spaces : eng.seoulartspace.or.kr