Speaker
Description
Korean art, despite the attempts made, remains in the shadow of Japanese and Chinese art. The collected data showed that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korean and the Russian Federation, at least thirty exhibition projects were shown in Moscow and St. Petersburg, including those organized by South Korean and Russian major museums (National Museum of Korea, State Hermitage Museum). Masterpieces of Korean classical art as well as important contemporary trends were introduced in Russia. But the data shows that these exhibition projects did not receive due attention and have not produce visible results, primarily due to insufficient promotion, the lack of educational programs, etc.
At the same time, over the past ten years, interest in Korean culture has rapidly increased in Russia. Enthusiasm about K-pop and dramas creates the desire of Russian speaking audience to learn more about Korean traditional culture and art. And this opens new opportunities for the popularization of Korean art. If earlier exhibition projects, even the largest ones, did not receive due attention, today, with the proper presentation, Korean art can receive wide interest and be in great demand. This opens opportunities for Korea not only to popularize Korean classical and contemporary art, but also to form the image of the leader of Eastern culture and art. Eastern art is still little known among Russian speakers; it is associated mainly with Japan and, to a lesser extent, with China. But the reduction of Japanese activities in Russia, and the so far unformed desire of the Chinese government to widely popularize Chinese art in Russia, open opportunities for the popularization of Korean art and emerging from the shadow of Japanese art.
The author of this study, based on own experience in popularizing Korean art in Russia, observations, and analysis, presents a cross-section of the level of awareness of Russian speakers about Korean art, shows what opportunities there are for popularizing Korean art and offers own approaches for generating interest in Korean art.
