The eighth round of online exhibition Companion featuring artist Yang Jeong-im, hosted by Jeju Free International City Development Center to overcome COVID-19 blues, was successfully wrapped.

Companion is a non-face-to-face exhibition organized by JDC for six months since August 2020. The goal was to support the local culture scene struggling from the COVID-19 crisis and console Jeju residents suffering from the distress of social distancing.

Starting with the special exhibition The Tale of Trees Around Us by Moon Seong-pil, an ecological photographer, the series was followed by Alone But Together by Yemi Kim, Jeju Meets You: The Shrine and the Spirit by Kim Il-yeong, Hope, the Beautiful Name by Moon Seo-bin, Story on the Road: Humanities of Photography by Sirin, The Scenery of Land: Jeju Fields by Kim Seong-yong, and The Wind Playing the Heart of the Star by An Jeong-hui.

The Companion exhibitions, available on the official JDC YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfCOS-Iqe7s), received favorable responses from Jeju and outside, achieving over 35,000 hits.

This 8th exhibition, featuring artist Yang Jeong-im, graced the Companion series’s finale with the title, Self-Exploration: Looking at Myself Through Self-Portrait and Colors.

Viewers will encounter pieces that constantly discover the self and express latent emotions by breaking away from self-control. Through her art, the artist demonstrates how she tirelessly strived to overcome the collapse of everyday life, rooted in the sense of grief for the helpless and languid days following COVID-19.

Only available online due to COVID-19, the exhibition was released on the JDC’s official YouTube channel on January 21st. The artist’s commentary complements the artworks to help the online audience understand and enhance their viewing experience.

“We hope these eight Companion exhibitions provided a venue for artists struggling from the COVID-19 situation and a place to experience culture for Jeju residents,” said Kim Gyeong-hun, JDC’s Social Value Promotion Officer. “We will continue to invest our efforts in advancing the local culture and arts,” he explained.