메인메뉴 바로가기본문으로 바로가기
네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Korea’s Fashion Art Dazzles Viewers in South America

Over the past 14 years, the Korea Fashion and Culture Association has regularly presented fashion art exhibitions at home and abroad, in an effort to introduce the exceptional formative culture of Korean fashion. At the invitation of the Architecture Museum of the State of Sao Paulo in Brazil, the association staged a “Fashion Art Exhibition . Air from Korea” event (July 7-27) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Brazil.



Through the display of fashion art, which integrates the traditional influences and artistic creativity of Korea, the exhibition sought to enhance an understanding about Korean fashion among the local residents of Brazil. As it turned out, the event attracted keen interest in and favorable responses to Korea’s culture, thereby publicizing the variety and brilliance of Korean culture and arts, and contributing to a better understanding between Korea and Brazil.
Of particular note, Sao Paulo is the center of Brazil’s clothing industry, which represents a key industrial sector for Korean immigrants and second-generation residents. Therefore, the exhibition also focused on efforts to boost the pride of ethnic Koreans residing in Brazil, in their Korean cultural roots, and to convey an image of Korea as an IT and cultural power among the second-generation residents of Korean descent who are associated with Brazil’s fashion industry.

Korea’s Fashion Culture
The exhibition venue was a beautiful historic museum, with Spanish-style architecture, the pride of Sao Paulo. In fact, the museum’s standards were so strict that our association was required to submit the catalogues of previous exhibitions abroad, representative fashion works, and participant profiles, before the board of directors extended us a formal invitation. As for the Korea Fashion and Culture Association, which is mainly comprised of fashion design professionals and university professors, 47 members contributed some 50 individual pieces for display at the exhibition.
The association carefully planned and prepared for this event, which marked our first exhibition of this kind in South America. An advance team, of professors Choi Hyeon-sook, Seo Bong-ha, and Jeong Jae-woo, was sent ahead to inspect the venue site and coordinate the installation efforts. After a flight from Seoul to Sao Paulo that took a full day, our group of 14 fashion specialists finally arrived in Brazil. We checked in at our hotel and then went directly to the museum, where a number of people were waiting for us. They included the crew of a production company, which had been arranged to perform the installation work, and staff of the Korean Consulate General office, as well as representatives of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Brazil and the Fine Arts Association of Koreans in Sao Paulo, along with second-generation Korean volunteers. The advance team struggled to come up with a plan for the layout and arrangement of the individual works, which wou ld be shown in three rooms. Whi le the details were being worked out, the group members proceeded to unpack the cases, iron the clothing, assemble the mannequins, and lay out the pieces at their display areas. As basic themes, we decided to present the past, present, and future of Korea’s fashion culture. The works on display included hanbok (Korea’s traditional attire), by designer Kim Hye-soon, along with embroidered traditional wedding dresses, court garments, first-birthday attire, and simple modern pieces, in subdued gray and black to complement the brightly colored traditional costumes. Flat panel displays from LG and Samsung were hung on the front wall to show “Digital Clothing Fashion Show,” an overview of Korea’s fashion culture by Seoul National University Professor Ko Hyeong-seok.
In a second exhibition room, mannequins were used to display the works, which featured vivid colors and intricate decorative details. In the third exhibition area, the display pieces were suspended from the ceiling. The exhibition catalogues emphasized the colors of yellow and green, in deference to the colors of Brazil’s national flag, since the exhibition was part of the festivities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Korea-Brazil diplomatic relations. A few of the museum staff admired the catalogue’s attractive style.



High Praise from Exhibition Visitors
An opening ceremony was attended by a large number of people, including more than 200 VIP guests invited by the museum and the Korean Consulate General. The event organizers were visibly pleased with the large turnout of influential figures. A trio led by Do Jin-joo, the only Asian cellist of the world-renowned Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, presented a classical music performance that seemed to suit the diplomatic figures in attendance. Korean songs by classical singers of Korea could be heard throughout the museum’s garden area. It was a truly delightful experience to see the fashion, music, and architecture of Brazil and Korea intertwined in a unique harmony in Sao Paulo, on the opposite end of the world from Korea.
Thereafter, the exhibition was opened to visitors. Amidst so many questions and s of admiration from the visitor, this served as an occasion for us to realize the importance of our work and to develop ideas about our future activities. At a reception held under the starry skies of Sao Paulo, diplomats from various countries and leading figures of Brazil’s cultural sector expressed their appreciation of Korea’s advanced fashion culture. They asked so many questions that we hardly had time to enjoy the wonderful spread of delectable food. The flight from Korea was tiring, but our entire group remained until the very end. Then, we needed to prepare for a fashion forum for next-generation designers the following day, which was organized to promote interaction and exchange with Korean residents in Brazil.
The exhibition provided the participants with a meaningful opportunity to assess the status of Korean culture in the world and the significance of international cultural exchange through fashion art. We also felt the need to strengthen our efforts to implement a more pro-active approach toward the world of fashion art after hearing how proud the Korean residents in Brazil were about the exhibition and the inspiration that it provided them.

SEARCH

통합검색

통합검색버튼
통합검색닫기

전체메뉴

전체메뉴 닫기