(photo courtesy of KCCLA)

The Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles will present the online project Korean Art @ Home “Minhwa” episode 2 on June 26 at KCCLA’s YouTube channel.

During the unexpected nature of COVID-19, all 2020 Korean Culture Day events will be held virtually to ensure the well-being and safety of staff and community. This online project was organized online through video many other Korean artists have started doing in their respective spaces.

The episode will cover the story of “Magpie and Tiger” (Kkachi Horangi), a detailed lecture on “Making Work” and various ways to use art materials such as acrylics and color markers that can be found around the house.

The first episode in this series was uploaded on June 22 and the video covered a brief overview of Korean Minhwa, an introduction to the lecturer Ms. Yong Soon Choi, a Minhwa artist, reviewed materials and usage methods of Minhwa, and basic technique of replication.

Minhwa is “painting of the people” or “popular painting.” This type of painting was often the work of anonymous craftsmen who faithfully adhere to the styles, canons and genres inherited from the past.

The art also involved a certain degree of magic, as people believe that Minhwa possessed beneficial virtues to protect the owner and their family from evil forces. These artworks feature natural themes such as cranes, rocks, water, clouds, the sun, moon, pine trees, tortoises, insects and flowers.

Minhwa is a traditional type of art that was popular in the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century in the Joseon period. Until now, Minhwa was known to merely mimic the style of the past without reflecting the artists’ originality. Modern Minhwa art embraces the artists’ colors and contemporary trends while maintaining traditional aspects of the art style.

The videos can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=FonFpaWYal8.

For information, visit kccla.org.