We Introduced Korean Folk Paintings to Learners in Belgium

KSI Brussels, Belgium (Kim Hee-jin, Director)

The King Sejong Institute (KSI) Brussels in Belgium hosted a folk painting workshop on September 5.

There were five participants, and while sipping on traditional Korean tea, they got to watch a video of folk paintings produced by KSI Brussels and learned about their history and background. The video providing information on the subtle meaning behind the paintings and traditional materials and techniques used was filmed in English, but French subtitles were also provided to reach a wider audience.

At the workshop, the participants got to learn the Korean folk painting techniques using traditional materials and appreciate a number of artworks. They each painted a hojakdo (referring to a folk painting of a magpie and a tiger) to convey the wishes to overcome COVID-19 in a safe and wise way and wrote their names in Hangeul.

People in Belgium understand the importance of leisure and taking time off from work, so whenever they get together, they talk about their pastimes and vacations. Located in a key position in Europe, geographically speaking, it is near the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg, so it receives many travelers and the people share and enjoy various hobbies together. As for the arts, Peter Paul Rubens, touted as a master of the Baroque style, and René Magritt, a prominent surrealist artist, were both from Belgium, and the people are well-versed in the arts, which may be because there are a wealth of galleries of all sizes in every city. Perhaps that’s why but there are many people around me who have artistic hobbies.

For Belgians who love the arts, the Korea Culture Education Association of Belgium hosted a Korean folk painting exhibition on January 15, 2020 with the support of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, a sister city of Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and the organization has been offering Korean folk painting classes along with Korean food and language classes since February. The classes had to be suspended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, much to the disappointment of the participants, but fortunately, with the Korea Culture Education Association of Belgium designated as KSI Brussels this year, we were able to resume Korean folk painting classes this September.

We hope to make our folk painting program at KSI Brussels more fun and exciting so that it becomes a popular pastime for the people of Belgium!