The Voice interviewing Bart Marivs at the KT&G Sang-sang Madang.
Asia’s first professional Art Brut museum, the Versi Art Museum, and Dr. Guislain, a museum from Ghent, Belgium, open their collaborative exhibition from March 3 to May 8 at KT&G Sang-sang Madang (KT&G 상상마당) in Mapo-Gu, Seoul. It is the first exhibition as well as the largest exhibition in Asia, sponsored by Yong-in Mental Hospital Foundation, Embassy of Belgium in the Republic of Korea and more.
<The History of Psychiatry and Art Brut, The Origin> is centered on the various medical collections from Versi Art Museum and Museum Dr. Guislain and follows the history of psychiatry and Art Brut. The numerous medical collections collected by Museum Dr. Guislain for around 2 centuries as well as documents holding the history of Korean Psychiatry is shown in the exhibition.
Art Brut, a form of art breaking away from the chains of formalities and striving towards purity, as well as supporting the innate creativities of individuals, is establishing itself in the art culture world of Asia. The exhibition <The History of Psychiatry and Art Brut, The Origin> is an opportunity for Koreans to experience firsthand the yet unfamiliar realm of Art Brut.
Versi Art Museum’s supervisor Mr. Choong Sun Lee says, “I hope this exhibition can be an opportunity for the public to understand that people with mental illnesses are also human beings and to gain interest for Art Brut, which expresses their needs in a pure way. In addition, I hope that the bias towards the mentally ill will die down through this exhibition.” He further noted, “As Art Brut is not a widespread form of art, we must be careful in how we judge its value.”
Meanwhile, the host of this special exhibition, Versi Art Museum, is an establishment built by the medial corporation Yong-in Hospital based on Korean subsidiary companies. Its name on one hand encases the word ‘But (벗)’ which means ‘a friend always by your side’ in Korean, and on the other hand includes the key letters within the word ‘Diversity’ in English. As it shows through its name, Versi art museum is Asia’s first Art Brut/outsider art museum that was made to diversify the services to social minorities.
Versi Corporation’s Head of Planning Office, Mr. Chanho Park states, “As we continue to open exhibitions such as <The History of Psychiatry, The Origin>, the effort to vitalize Art Brut and Outsider Art persists to blossom in Korea. With the absence of media and other special mediums, this form of art is pure; therefore we need the continuous support of the Korean society.”
Haseung Joung | Managing Editor
hjoung@masonlive.gmu.edu
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