"Korea has excellent cultural content production capabilities and can grow into Asia's digital exhibition hub," said Yoo Min-seok, CEO of Artworks, a painter-turned-exhibition planner.
In an interview with the Seoul Economic Daily on the 24th, Yoo said digital exhibitions will become a new opportunity for Korea's cultural industry. His vision is to combine Korea's advanced digital technology and infrastructure with the arts to produce high-quality cultural content.
Yoo also serves as a bridge between Korea and Russia in the arts. Following a contemporary art exhibition by Korean artists at the Primorsky State Art Gallery in Vladivostok, Russia, in 2023, he will host a digital exhibition of the State Hermitage Museum at the Oil Tank Culture Park in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, in April this year. The Hermitage Museum is considered one of the world's three greatest museums alongside the British Museum and the Louvre.
The digital exhibition will feature masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and other masters from the Hermitage collection. "It will be an opportunity to vividly experience through digital technology the museum's representative paintings, the stories behind them, and the Winter Palace, the space where masterpieces by great artists are housed and displayed," Yoo said.
Yoo described Russian art as having "a strong technical foundation and deep narrative rooted in literary and philosophical traditions." He added, "Russian society has tremendous interest in and affection for culture and the arts. Russia could become an excellent partner for Korea as it seeks to establish itself as a cultural powerhouse centered on K-pop."
Yoo expressed hope that the exhibition will serve as a foundation for vitalizing cultural exchange between the two countries. "It will enhance the value of works in the Hermitage collection and create a new opportunity for Korea's cultural industry," he said.
Yoo also plans to establish a Hermitage Museum digital center in Korea. The center would go beyond a space for showcasing digital exhibition content to become a platform for various cultural exchange programs, including exhibitions between artists from both countries. "Through our partnership with the Hermitage Museum, we will introduce digital exhibition content produced in Korea to the Asian market," Yoo said. "Our goal is to develop Korea into a hub for digital exhibition content production."