5 captivating exhibitions that celebrate Korean culture

In traditional or contemporary art, color is not chosen at random: it carries multiple meanings, whether it echoes ancestral symbols or the diversity of cultural references. Like a dialogue between tradition and contemporary creation, the Korean Cultural Center (8^e) therefore unveils the “Colors of Korea”. An exhibition which highlights the tones of the country, through the works of around thirty artists from different disciplines (painting, sculpture, photography, installation, digital art). Sensitive retinas refrain!

The craze around Korean aesthetics is not new! From the 18th^e century, the country stands out with a particular vision of women’s fashion. Flowing clothes, pale skin, makeup and refined hairstyles: painters are inspired by these standards of beauty which irrigate Korean popular culture, later affecting photography, cinema and the cosmetic industry of the 20th century.^e century. The history of this phenomenon is currently recounted at the Guimet museum (16^e) in an exciting exhibition. So, ready to ride the K-pop wave?

To celebrate the 140^e anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Korea, FIAP Paris (14^e) invites 14 French and Korean artists to explore the notion of otherness: what makes the other? what does it send back to us? how does he change us? Questions put into perspective by different voices who, through their respective backgrounds and hybrid forms of creation, compose a sensitive and contemporary fresco on the links between the two countries. A relevant project that we owe to the Association of Young Korean Artists (AJAC).

Destruction, reconstruction, tears, seams and knots: the Korean Shin Sung Hy has never stopped reinventing the pictorial gesture throughout his career. Exhibited at the Cernuschi Museum (8^e), his work is revealed with around thirty works recounting his journey, notably his arrival in France in 1980. Nourished by dansaekhwa – a Korean movement which translates as “monochrome painting” – and the French collective Supports-Surface, each stage of his artistic reflection puts annihilation and rebirth into dialogue. This exhibition, which shines the spotlight on an artist recognized in his country of origin, but less in his adopted land, is urgently worth discovering!

For almost a millennium, the kingdom of Silla, revealed at its fall by medieval chronicles then by archaeological excavations, shaped one of the most fascinating civilizations of Southeast Asia. At the Guimet museum (16^e), this exhibition offers until August 31 to trace the thread of this chapter which took place between 57 BC and 935 AD. Based on an exceptional set of national treasures presented for the first time in Europe, the journey highlights the close links between power, artistic creation and spirituality, which cemented this rich culture, continuing today to inhabit the landscapes of the city of Gyeongju (South Korea).