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The current global fascination with Korean popular culture, known as the Korean Wave or Hallyu, has had a profound impact on worldwide cultural sectors, reminiscent of historical movements like the French New Wave and the British Invasion. Similar to these movements, the Hallyu blurs the boundaries between popular and contemporary arts. It has rapidly expanded globally, fueled by the rise of new social media platforms.
However, critics argue that the mainstream Korean Wave, driven by consumerism and emphasizing aesthetics, beauty, and appearance, primarily caters to privileged classes, contributing to the economic growth of related industries. Despite its glossy exterior, the Hallyu often neglects or silences underlying social, cultural, and environmental issues in Korea.
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The AAPlab's third international conference, "Surface Tension: K-Arts in the Hallyu Era," took place from February 22-24, 2024, at the University of Montreal.
The conference aimed to explore both the positive and negative aspects of the Hallyu, echoing Korean film director Bong Joon-Ho's statement that creative works reflect violence in the world. It investigated the blurred boundaries between pop and contemporary art, questioned the artistic visions challenging or resisting the mainstream-oriented "K" and their potential impact on the future world.
soyoung kim
Filmmaker and artist, Professor of Cinema Studies at Korea National University of Arts in Seoul/ Director of Trans-Asia Screen Culture / Director of Exhibition: The Climate of Cinema: Isles, the Planet and Post-contact Zones (2023) at Museum of Contemporary Arts, Busan(MOCA), Founding Program Director of Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, Founding Co-Programmer of the Jeonju International Film Festival.
Film and Installation arts: Exile Trilogy (2014-2019), Women’s History Trilogy (2000-2004), Heart of snow afterlife (2017), AnaInn: Harvesting Light (2022) to mention a few.
Books:
Korean Cinema in Global Contexts: Postcolonial Phantom, Blockbuster, Trans-Cinema, Amsterdam University Press. 2022.
Geo-Spatiality in Asian and Oceanic Literature and Cultures: Worlding Asia in the Anthropocene, Co-edited by Rob Wilson, Soyoung Kim and Serena Chou. Palgrave McMillian Press, 2022.
shin dong kim
Shin Dong Kim is a professor at the Media School and the director of the Institute for Convergence Culture, Hallym University, Korea. He is elected as the president of the Korean Association for Public Diplomacy for 2025. Dr. Kim is the Editor-in-Chief of the Korean Social Science Journal which is the flagship academic journal of the Korean Social Science Council. KSSC is an association of fifteen national academic associations in social sciences and management studies. Throughout his professional career, Dr. Kim has been an active advocate and innovator for the globalization of higher education. His area of research and teaching covers culture and creative industries, media policy and political economy, global communications, and film studies. He has recently managed a five-year national research project on modeling Korea's ICT developments. He is currently working on the impact of narratives and narration in human communication. Dr. Kim has been invited to teach at many universities globally including Dartmouth College, Sciences Po Paris, Peking University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of the Philippines, Shanghai University, etc. Dr. Kim earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University in Mass Communications, and M.A. and B.A. from Korea University.
University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Carrefour des Arts et des Sciences (CFAS), Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150, rue Jean-Brillant Montréal QC H3T 1N8
(Métro: Côte-des-Neiges)
Dazibao Gallery
5455, de Gaspé Avenue, suite 109 (GF) Montréal QC Canada H2T 3B3
(Métro: Laurier)
Arts East-West Website for Online Events
www.artseastwest.ca
Official Conference
18h00 - 20h30 Opening Reception, the 3rd AAPlab’s international conference
ROOM: C-2081 at Carrefour des Arts et des Sciences (CFAS)
*During the opening reception, a few exhibitions will be accompanied in the room. Refreshments will be served (Space is limited. R.S.V.P. by Feb. 20).
ROOM: C-1017-02 at Carrefour des Arts et des Sciences (CFAS)
DISCUSSANT: Shin Dong Kim, Professor, Hallym University
DISCUSSANT: Victoria-Oana-Lupascu, Professor, University of Montreal
ROOM: C-1017-02 at Carrefour des Arts et des Sciences (CFAS)
DISCUSSANT: Livia Monnet, Professor, University of Montreal
Film and Media arts screenings at Dazibao (all events are free)
In-person at Dazibao:
Mul Maeum (2022). Media Arts. 30:48 mins. by Jin-me Yoon, Vancouver based Korean-Canadian media artist. Followed by reading passages from her books.
70 years of Korean International Adoption (2023). Short Documentary. Canada. by Kimura Byol Lemoine, a multidisciplinary Korean-Japanese-Swedish and Canadian- artist. Followed by the artist's talk.
Big Fight in Little Chinatown (2022). Documentary, Canada. by Karen Cho. Followed by conversation with the artist, moderated by Mei Chou, social activist.
Online screening:
Time of Seeds (2022) by Seol Suan
Genre: Documentary; Country: Korea; Original dialogue: Korean; Subtitle: English
Free access to watch the film available starting from 9 AM, Feb. 15 midnight to Feb 25, 2024 (EST), Canada only:
CLICK HEREVictoria-Oana Lupascu
University of Montreal, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Asian Studies
Victoria Oana Lupașcu is Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Asian Studies at the Université de Montréal. Her areas of interest include the medical humanities, the visual arts, Chinese, Brazilian and Romanian literature of the 20th and 21st, and Global South studies.
Livia Monnet
University of Montreal, Professor of Comparative Literature, Film, and Asian Studies
Livia Monnet, a full professor at the Université de Montréal, is an expert in contemporary Japanese literature and cinema. With a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna, she has taught internationally and focuses on experimental cinema in Japan, body issues in media arts, and cultural practices of ecological movements in the Asia-Pacific area. Monnet, an award recipient from the Canon Foundation and the German Society for East Asian Studies, is also an accomplished educator, offering courses on topics like independent animation cinema, feminism in cinema, and classical Japanese theatre.
Shin Dong Kim (Keynote Speaker)
Hallym University, Korea, Professor of he Media School
(Biography above, under 'Keynote Speakers')
The Future of K-Dramas in the Face Netflix's Global Success
Sara Muñoz Bautista
Kim Nam-Joon, the Miracle Worker: BTS and new opportunities for popularization of Korean art
Elena Khokhlova, PhD
To connect with image and sound in a music video, Daechwita
Sue Yeogeun Kim
Neoliberal Streaming State, Hallyu and Fans
Monika Mehta
Mountain Gods Have Disappeared: K-Animism, Contemporary Art, and Ecological Crisis
Min-Jeong Kim, M.A.
An attempt to redefine sustainable cinema in the era of new media – through the recent creations of Hong Sang-soo
Heui-Tae Park 박희태
Performing K-Pop in the Digital Realm: Dance, Movement, and the Pop Cultural Imagination in LuYang’s Doku: Mind Matrix
Gabriel Remy-Handfield
The various faces of Saemangeum in K-arts
Emilie Tullio
Intragenerational Trauma: Legacy of the Japanese Occupation of Korea 1910-1945 in contemporary South Korean popular culture
Charlotte Hammond
KPop and Image of Hallyu through Hanbok
CedarBough T. Saeji ∞ 서이지 ● 瑞利智
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