제 11 호 Sangmyung Museum’s Ontact Exhibition
Kicker: SM NEWS
Sangmyung Museum’s Ontact Exhibition
What is Ontact?
Yeong-Jin Choi, Reporter
Do you know what “Ontact” is? Ontact is a newly coined* word since the post* Corona era, which is a combination of “untact” (non-face-to-face contact) and “on”, which means connection with the world online. Easily speaking, ontact is a newly made concept that people can participate in events online. Do you know the fact that Sangmyung Museum has been holding an ontact exhibition since July 12? Since COVID-19 is becoming an even more severe problem in Korea, it is hard for people to go outside and join the exhibition directly. Sangmyung Museum, therefore, provides a solution by mixing VR and an online exhibition, enabling participants to “see, understand, and make” the Korean traditional hat, “gat” and the Korean traditional box of wedding gifts, “ham”.
*Coin: To invent a new word or expression, or to use one in a particular way for the first time.
*Post: After or later than.
LG Signature Art Gallery
One good example of an ontact exhibition is the “LG Signature Art Gallery”, which is designed for all kinds of people to join art freely 24/7. This exhibition was designed by designer Eu Hyeun-Jun with the purpose of establishing a place for new inspiration for the artists, and to create a location to lead the consumers’ normal life to the world of art. This new art platform fluently combines artists, art, and visitors into one without actually going to the gallery by themselves. Everyone agrees that it is hard to spend time for cultural life like going to the museum or going to the theater and watch movies since the corona era, when the government is strongly recommending people to stay indoors as much as possible to prevent contagion* to spread. The LG Signature Art Gallery focuses on the “location”, which is considered as the most important essence* of architecture. The gallery invites online visitors to the ultimate* combination between people, place, nature, and home appliances* by using VR*.
LG Signature Art Gallery
*Contagion: The situation in which a disease is spread by touching someone or something.
*Essence: The basic or most important idea or quality of something.
*Ultimate: Most extreme or important because either the original or final, or the best or worst.
*Appliance: A device, machine, or piece of equipment, especially an electrical one that is used in the house, such as a cooker or washing machine.
*VR: An abbreviation for virtual reality. A set of images and sounds, produced by a computer, that seem to represent a place or a situation that a person can take part in.
To See, To Understand, To Make
I have already mentioned above that the main purpose of Sangmyung Museum’s Ontact Exhibition is to “see, understand, and make” gat* and ham*. It is hard for people to get the chance to touch and observe gat or ham precisely in their daily life. The Sangmyung Museum, therefore, offers a good chance for the participants of the exhibition to make a close observation of both Korean traditional goods while combining the exhibition with VR technology.
An Image of Gat
Not only gat and ham are available at the theme “To see”, but also china*, and woodcrafts* too. The theme “To understand” is a semi-documentary media program associating with local society, which shows a master craftsman of gat, Jung Chun-Mo’s process of making gat, and Kim Chang-Sik, also a master craftsman of china, to fluently understand easily how they are made. The last theme, “To make” was designed for the participants to directly understand, inherit and improve our traditional culture at the same time by associating a semi-documentary media program with a VR exhibition. We can either choose a course of making gat or ham or request for a DIY* kit*from the museum to make it on our own.
The ontact exhibition program is available by QR code, the Sangmyung Museum website, and YouTube channel. If you are interested in participating in the program, please click the link below which redirects to Sangmyung Museum website directly or call the museum for further information. https://www.smu.ac.kr/museum/index.do
*Gat: Korean traditional hat made of bamboo and horsehair.
*Ham: Korean traditional box of wedding gifts sent by a bridegroom to his bride before wedding.
*China: Clay of high quality that is shaped and then heated to make it permanently hard, or objects made from this, such as cups and plates.
*Woodcraft: Skill and practice in anything relating to the woods and especially in maintaining oneself and making one’s way in the woods.
*DIY: An abbreviation for Do-It-Yourself. The activity of decorating or repairing your home, or making things for your home yourself, rather than paying someone else to do it for you.
*Kit: A set of things, such as tools or clothes, used for a particular purpose or activity.
I do understand that most of you are feeling thirst to live a cultural life again but are banned because of the pandemic. Let me ask, what comes to your mind when you hear the word “gat” and “ham”? Well, many of you might know what they are, but basically are not so interested in how to make one, or even try it. Learning the way of making gat and ham is a special event that you might experience only once in your lifetime. How about visiting the Sangmyung Museum’s website and experience such a good opportunity rather than just sighing with grief over the current situation of living a dull and culturally restricted life? It would be very meaningful if Sangmyung students pay lots of attention and to take part in this program, and I do hope for the best that Corona ends as soon as possible, which will lead us back again to live a culturally fulfilling life.
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