Busan, May 1 – May 24, 2024, http://www.f1963.org
An exhibit of many handcrafted paper dolls showing a scene of … I think it was a Japanese envoy visiting Korea? 300 hundred something years ago? It seems to be an important event in Busan, that is also regularly commemorated. Unfortunately all the text was in Korean only and I can´t say much more about it.
From what I saw: These paper-made dolls seem to be a kind of Korean traditional folk art. They seem to have been created by a large number of individual creators from the surrounding area. A lot of effort went into making the individual dolls. On the other hand, it was obvious that none of these individuals had much experience with organising large-scale exhibits. Or there simply was no budget.
The result of the large combined doll-making effort was simply installed on a long flat line of tables lining the exhibition space on all sides. This installation looked quite pitiful and boring. Why not work together with some other art club focusing on painting and ask them paint a background? Or a sculptor, who could create a “landscape” into which the dolls could be placed? Or, more simple, hire an exhibition architect?
In my eyes, this exhibit reminded me a bit of the nativity scenes that can be seen in christian churches. The effort put into making the dolls is usually balanced out by an equal effort of constructing a landscape into which this individual dolls are embedded.
