Korea Now! at Musée des Arts Décoratifs

Paris is embracing all things Korean with the Korea Now! Craft, Design, Mode et Graphisme en Corée exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

The exhibit aims to present a historic panorama but also the avant-guard of these different creative disciplines coming from a country that has been off the radar of curators and the design sector alike for such a long time. And the effort has paid off. Taking advantage of the Year of Korea in France, the Parisian museum is organising, together with Korea Craft & Design Foundation KCDF, the first major exhibition dedicated to the “Land of the Morning Calm”. The year of Korea is one of the cultural seasons during which one country is invited to display its diversity within the French territory.

“During his visit before the opening, South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn told us that he had never seen an event on such a scale, even in Seoul,” Olivier Gabet, director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs proudly recounts.

“The idea was to offer the most eclectic panorama possible, in a very free way. We wanted to examine so-called ‘more traditional’ production, such as silversmithing or working on paper, involving a resource that shows a strong aesthetic revolution, which isn’t always completely observable in certain works. But we also wanted to establish the very universal aspect of Korean art,” explains Gabet, who called upon the expertise of curators including Karine Lacquemant and Rheem Mi-Sun for design and craft, Eric Pujalet-Plaà and Suh Young-Hee for fashion, and Amélie Gastaut and Choi Bum for graphic design.

The result of this research can be seen through more than 700 pieces by 150 artists, craftspeople, designers, fashion designers and graphic designers. The exhibition spreads throughout almost all of the temporary exhibitions spaces of the museum in a dialogue between historical objects and modern creations. 

The show spans from the large nave housing imposing design pieces to the side galleries, which present an excellent selection of ceramics that have been cleverly highlighted with natural light from the Tuileries gardens (scenography by Jang Soon-gak). From there it passes through the wing dedicated to fashion (set up by Lim Tae-hee).

Through the exhibition, visitors will gain an overview of the diversity of South Korean crafts, but they will also understand why the eyes of Asia are more and more turning towards the design emanating from this small country. 

Korea Now! runs from 19 September 2015 to 3 January 2016 at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. 107, rue de Rivoli, Paris.