Korean Culture Seen Through the Whanki Museum

Abstract

The ‘Whanki Art Museum’ was established in honor of ‘Kim Whanki,’ a famous abstract artist of Korean art. This area called the Whanki Art Museum is not only a building or a space that displays his large paintings but also a monument to Kim Whanki’s art world. This area has revealed his works representing Korean culture during the era of modern art. This art museum was built not only to exhibit Kim Whanki’s works but also to serve as a community education center for art and to promote works of young artists. A special exhibition was held on this agenda, opening a space for new artists to introduce their own works in this prestigious area. This research seeks to explore the production of Korean culture and how it is then transmitted to visitors. Finally, this research will examine how Korean culture is reproduced through the operations at the Whanki Art Museum site. The research analyzed the area of the Whanki Art Museum with the concept of production of space by Henri Lefebvre.  To understand and analyze the area as one of the cultural objects, this research considers whether it is a composition, spatial practice, representational space, and/or a representation of space. In understanding this space, it was found that the Whanki Art Museum is a cultural knowledge transfer area and Korean culture is produced in the area and symbols created within. Found in the art museum, the meaning-replaced space is surrounded by the concept of Korean culture.