Gallery Won located in Cheongdam-dong will host Kenyan children’s art exhibit “Brush with Hope” from January 31 to February 5. The Korean Foundation for International Culture Exchange affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and international NGO Mtree invited children from Kenya and sponsored their art exhibition to provide art education and diverse cultural experiences to the children in Korea.

○ Art Exhibition: Illustrations of “Story of Hope” by Kenyan children

The exhibition will display the artworks of children from Maasai and Mombasa who partook in the art education program in Kenya in August 2014. Organized under the theme of “Interaction,” the exhibition is a record of the moment when the artistic talent hiding in the children interacted with the creative world for the first time. Through their work, the audience will be able to discover the artistic talent that is hiding in themselves. The children will attend the exhibition as curators and introduce their works to the visitors. They will explain the message of hope illustrated in their drawings and create a point of empathy and understanding with the audience. They can also continue their creative work at the “Art-Ground” section of the gallery.

The exhibition will take place on three floors. The first floor consists of the crucial moments when the children discovered the artist in themselves for the first time. The multimedia display on the first underground level exhibits diverse visual works inspired by music as well as multimedia art pieces. The second underground level is where the message of hope and interaction is the most evident. The hall is divided into an open exhibit and a closed room, with the former exhibiting works on “hope.” These artworks by Kenyan children will be auctioned and all proceeds will go toward culture and art education programs and communities in Kenya.

○ [Korean culture] Nice to meet you, Korea! See and feel Korean culture 

During their stay in Korea, the children will not only participate in their art exhibition, but also experience a range of Korean culture. From K-pop dance classes and Pororo Park for a taste of Hallyu to Korean traditional culture and sports, such as traditional crafts and snow sledding, the children will engage in various programs that bring them closer to Korean culture. As their mentor, Kenyan student Mango Jane Angar (Sookmyung Women’s University, 23) who received straight A’s in her classes will accompany the children and introduce Korean culture as she has seen it through the eyes of a Kenyan.