THE world is currently at a standstill with people staying at home and the usual entertainment establishments temporarily closed. Museums are having to think outside the box in order to let us in.
The State Hermitage Museum, located in Saint Petersburg and the second largest museum in the world, is making their exhibitions available online for art lovers. One of their exhibitions, titled Creativity and Daydream – a collaboration between Parallel Contemporary Art, Saatchi Gallery and the State Hermitage Museum, celebrates the work of 16 young emerging artists from South Korea.
Audiences will be able to digitally walk-through and immerse themselves in the work with the lens zooming closely in on the pieces to highlight the artistic details.
Creativity and Daydream is part of a project that launched in 2006 by the State Hermitage Museum called Hermitage 20/21 – aimed at showcasing contemporary artists from across the globe. Having already exhibited young British, American and Japanese artists, this show puts South Korean artists on a pedestal.
The show was curated by Dimitri Ozerkov, the curator of The Hermitage, Serenella Ciclitira, the founder of Korean Eye and Philippa Adams from the Saatchi Gallery. The future of this initiative sees to gradually have exhibited each of the 195 countries in the world best up-and-coming artists inside this historical institution.
The Head of the Contemporary Art Department of the the State Hermitage Museum, Dr. Dimitri Ozerkov explains, “The way [Korean] artists think, their thoughts, heads and hands work in a way that is different from Russia and the West”, ultimately letting the art educate artists on different methods and perspectives that they have never seen before. “What we have brought here now is not exact objects or art works, but a state of mind and philosophical ideas, that come together within the artworks,” says Ozerkov proudly when asked about Korea’s contribution to today’s bubble of creativity.
Art can be seen as a medium to challenge, question and reflect its social environment. Ozerkov states that “Every art work in the exhibition contains a social value,” adding to the importance of showcasing East Asian art on the observer. By delving into art created by different cultures, it allows you to add not just to your knowledge, but to expand your view on the world – and in this unusual case, from the comfort of your very own home.
1919C(Background) & Queen Mother of the West – Olympia
Artists included in the exhibition: Cody Choi, Da Aie Park, Doowon, Eunha Kim, Gosari, Hoyeon Kang, Jungki Beak, Kwantaeck Park, Lee Yongbaek, Meekyoung Shin, Oak Jungho, Park Miock, Sekyung Lee, Wonwoo Lee, Yoonsuk Choi and Young In Hong.
by Imogen Clark
The exhibition is aimed to travel to London ’s Saatchi Gallery in the middle of the summer.
