Lia Maurer was the winner of the 2017 KSI Campinas Korean Speech Contest in Brazil, and a participant in the 2017 KSI Outstanding Students Contest. She was selected as the ‘Art Major Asian plus Scholarship (AMA+)’ international scholar at Korea National University of Arts in 2020, and is currently pursuing her Formative Arts - Art Specialist Master’s studies at the School of Visual Arts at KNUA.

Hello! We very much enjoyed seeing you on . Please briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your TV appearance.

(Lia) Hello, I’m Lia from Brazil. I studied arts in Brazil, and I’m currently a Master’s student studying hologram and photography at Korea National University of Arts. I first came to Korea after winning the KSI Campinas Korean Speech Contest held in 2017. I was so fascinated when I first came here that I wanted to study here to learn more about the country.

My parents are in Brazil, so they only got to watch the show a day later because of the 12-hour time difference. With every question I answered wrong, they asked me why I didn’t get it right. It was fun to see them so engaged. I’m touched that they actually watched the whole show, even though they don’t understand Korean. A friend of mine in Brazil told me she was very proud to see me teach Samba, a Brazilian culture, to other people. Right now, I’m working as a teaching assistant at Korea National University of Arts, which is also where I study. The professors and students alike tagged me on their social media posts of me on the show, which was all very exciting. I was a bit shy at first, but now I’m glad I have such a great memory to cherish.

We heard that you are a scholar, and that you are studying holograms at KNUA, which is an area that not everyone is familiar with. Could you tell us how you first started studying holograms, and what you plan to do after graduating?

(Lia) I studied photography in Brazil, and holograms are more or less three-dimensional photography, through which viewers can see an image from different angles. It’s as if you are seeing the actual object in real life. The subject is very intriguing, so I’ve been wanting to study it in Brazil, but there wasn’t a research program back home where I could study both photography and holograms.
I had been studying the Korean language at KSI for some time when I heard about this famous hologram professor at KNUA, so I decided to apply for the Art Major Asian plus Scholarship (AMA+) for international students. I’m learning so much from Professor LEE Ju-Yong.

Once I earn my Master’s degree, I would love to go on to earn my Doctor’s degree in Korea as well. After I graduate, I want to be a photographer and a hologram research professor, which is why I’m taking graduate classes in Korean and working as a teaching assistant and helping undergraduate students. For now, I’m planning on enjoying my graduate student life, and holding a lot of exhibitions to show my hologram works on the way.