News

When ‘Kyung Hee’ Meets ‘Hong Kong’

2018-06-05



On Monday, April 9, special works of art made their first appearance in Exhibition Hall 1 of Kyung Hee University Museum of Art (KUMA). They belonged to students of the Education University of Hong Kong (EUHK), featured as part of the Exchange Exhibition Program between Kyung Hee College of Fine Arts and EUHK.


This exhibition is part of a credit exchange program that has been established between the College of Fine Arts and the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (DCCA) at EUHK since last year, making this its second year of the program. Each year, the College of Fine Arts runs a credit exchange program with an overseas university.

This year, nineteen students and one professor from EUHK visited Kyung Hee from April 8 (Sunday) to April 13 (Friday). The exhibition ran until April 12 (Thursday). This visit was in response to Kyung Hee’s visit made by a team of 24 students and 2 professors from the College of Fine Arts to EUKH between March 25 (Sunday) and March 31 (Saturday).



“An excellent opportunity to hone my skills”
Not only were students from EUHK given an opportunity to exhibit their work in the gallery but also they were able to participate in a variety of other activities; they attended ongoing art classes at Kyung Hee and toured Korean museums and art galleries. Professor Scott R. McMaster (EUHK) offered a positive assessment of this credit exchange program. “Kyung Hee and EUHK students were able to exchange ideas, appreciate art pieces, and to provide constructive stimulation to each other. By comparing the different work styles manifest in the different working environments, they were able to discuss their ideas and concerns.”

Melissa (Mung Lai Lam, 21) expressed the positive outcome and her future hope. “My skills have been upgraded by a notch. I was happy to observe what kind of education was being offered at Kyung Hee, and especially liked the conversations with my Korean friends. If possible, I think it would be interesting to collaborate on a project next time.”


Visit to Hong Kong Art-Basel, the largest art fair in Asia

By selecting highly-skilled artists from the ‘First Step Exhibition’ in the freshman year, and the ‘Presentational Exhibition’ in the junior year, the College of Fine Arts grants scholarships and opportunities to participate in diverse credit exchange programs. The goal is to develop creative talent that can respond proactively to the contemporaneous cultural changes occurring in the world, while safeguarding the traditional artistic inheritance of Korea.

Students selected in this year’s exhibitions visited Hong Kong for a week. They displayed their work at the ‘Exchange Exhibition’ at EUHK, and attended Hong Kong Art-Basel, Asia’s largest art festival. They also toured other satellite art fairs, such as the Hong Kong Urban Mural Festival, and various open studios organized by Hong Kong’s up-and-coming artists.

Jae-Min Shin (Drawing & Painting, ’15), who participated in the recent exchange program, commented, “Attending a global art fair was hugely motivating; I believe that if you make the effort, you can achieve what you want. It was also very meaningful to display my work at EUHK.”


Diverse internationalization programs to enter the world stage

Professor Meena Park at the Department of Drawing and Painting also stressed the significance of this program. She said, “This year, the size of the Exchange Exhibition has significantly grown compared to that of last year. Students were also more ambitious, which won a special praise from the EUHK faculty. After witnessing the real-life art exhibition and art trade at Hong Kong Art-Basel, students developed greater interest and focus in their work, creating a positive educational impact.”

By securing gallery space through its operation of ‘KUMA’ and ‘College of Fine Arts Gallery,’ the College of Fine Arts offers a differentiated educational approach by encouraging students to showcase the progress of their education. This is what Kyung Hee believes to be the foundation to enter the world stage. To that end, the University will continue to promote diverse internationalization programs, and focus on areas of education required to reach the real world.