TEKKAL, Couleurs de Corée, the exhibition at the Korean Culture Center, our pictures

When colors are part of our lives and have a special meaning… This is what the Centre Culturel Coréen offers from November 20, 2019 to February 14, 2020 with TEKKAL, Couleurs de Corée, the very first exhibition displayed in the new premises of the institution. A retrospective in partnership with the National Folk Museum of Korea.

And exhibition revolving around the traditional system of colors inspired by the concept of Eumyang Ohaeng, the equivalent of the Ying and the Yang. It matches the belief that “the world starts from the subtle game of two elementary and compatible forces”. Forces that are also at the origin of the creation of the five Ohaneg elements, naming wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and are the base of the Korean colors called “Obangsaek” or “Obangjeongsaek”, each one of them matching one element.

We have Yellow (the earth, the center of the universe), Blue (wood, paired with east and spring), White (metal, associated to Fall and west), Red (fire, matching passion, south and summer) and Black (men’s wisdom, winter and water). The TEKKAL exhibition invites us to discover these colors in two parts: “Monochrome” and “Jeu de Couleurs”. These two parts are illustrated by an “ensemble of items both traditional and contemporary”, an integral part of Koreans’ daily lives.

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As for “Monochrome”, this part presents “the meaning of the five colors the most used in Korean culture” that we also find in contemporary art. As for “Jeu de Couleurs”, this part presents “the Korean art of color harmony and the varied and possible associations” (blue and red, black and white and other multicolor obangsaek and saekdong combinations). All in all, 208 works of art invite visitors to “enjoy the beauty of colors dear to Koreans’ hearts” as well as enable them “to better understand their deep meaning and the specific and Korean way to combine them”.

And exhibition we’ve had the chance to discover… Created in several areas matching the different colors, this exhibition is the occasion to discover in a lovely way the tradition and the history of Korea through colors. Clothes, jewels, artefacts, furniture and even daily items… They all have their own story to tell and take us to it thanks to different, bright and clean areas. A wonderful occasion to learn more about Korea and Koreans… Let’s go, friends, shall we?