Latest news with #MMCA
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Former MMCA Director Youn Bum-mo appointed as Gwangju Biennale Foundation president
Youn Bum-mo, the former director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, has been appointed president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and will lead the organization ahead of the upcoming Gwangju Design Biennale in August and the 2026 Gwangju Biennale. The foundation's board made the decision in a meeting on Thursday, according to the foundation, in recognition of Youn's contribution to Minjung art and his service as director of the state-run museum from 2019 to 2023. As a researcher, Youn contributed to the establishment of Minjung art, the genre that emerged among artists in the 1970s and 1980s who spoke out through art against dictatorship and military rule. 'Having participated in the founding of the Gwangju Biennale 30 years ago, returning now as its president brings a heavy sense of responsibility. I will further strengthen the biennale's identity and foster it as a hub for artistic discourse rooted in the civic spirit of Gwangju,' Youn said. Youn served as an executive committee member for the inaugural Gwangju Biennale in 1995, according to the foundation. Youn took office as the director of MMCA in 2019. His term was renewed after three years, but he resigned from the post after he came under scrutiny when the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration came into power in 2022 and took the unprecedented step of revealing the findings of a special audit into alleged inappropriate actions by the museum. Succeeding the foundation's former President Park Yang-woo, whose term recently expired, Youn will officially start his duties on Monday. The 16th Gwangju Biennale in 2026 will be helmed by Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen as artistic director, while the upcoming 2025 Gwangju Design Biennale in September will be curated by professor Choi Soo-shin from the Savannah College of Art and Design in the US state of Georgia, exploring how design will embrace humanity. yunapark@ Park Yuna
Wales Online
11-06-2025
- Wales Online
Hate graffiti daubed on building due to be converted into mosque
Hate graffiti daubed on building due to be converted into mosque The incident occurred just weeks after a council granted a 30-year lease to the local Muslim Community Association Abergavenny's former library was defaced with graffiti (Image: Gareth Wilde ) A Grade-II listed building that was set to become a Welsh county's first mosque has been defaced with religious symbols and anti-Muslim graffiti in an act that one resident described as "a dark stain on us all". Police are treating the incident as a hate crime. Spray-painted Christian crosses and the words "No Masjid" were discovered on the former Abergavenny library just weeks after the council's Labour-led cabinet agreed to grant a 30-year lease to Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association (MMCA). The group, a not-for-profit organisation, intends to convert the building into the county's first mosque and community centre, serving the needs of Monmouthshire's growing and diverse Muslim population. The incident has been widely condemned by local residents and faith leaders as a shocking display of religious intolerance in a town known for its history of peaceful dissent and diversity. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here. The building, located in the town centre, has been out of use as a library since 2015 after services were moved to Abergavenny Town Hall. Since then it has housed several council-run services including adult education and most recently the pupil referral unit (PRU) for children unable to attend mainstream education. Article continues below The PRU has now relocated to new premises at Old Hereford Road leaving the building vacant once again. In May the council awarded the lease to MMCA citing the association's clear demonstration of local need. Abergavenny has the highest number of Muslims in Monmouthshire, which currently has no mosques. In contrast Cardiff has 24 mosques while Newport has eight and Swansea has seven. The former Abergavenny library building was set to become Monmouthshire's first mosque (Image: Google ) Since 2021 MMCA has been holding Friday congregational prayers at St Michael's Community Centre with the support of trustees from Our Lady and St Michael's parish. Their presence has grown steadily and they have also collaborated with schools and youth groups to promote interfaith understanding. Andrew Lewis, a local resident, welcomed their work and said: "The Muslim community locally have been doing some great community events. "I can only see that increasing with having their own dedicated community space. We have had them talking with Scouts as part of the World Faiths badge and I went to a Ramadan celebration and education evening at Crickhowell High School." Although the cabinet decision was approved, three councillors called in the lease agreement for review following concerns raised members of the community. The review meeting was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, June 11, at Monmouthshire County Hall in Usk. The vandalism, which occurred just a day before that review, has triggered anger and soul-searching in the community. "I am disgusted at the vandals who have used a precious Christian symbol to object to a former library being used for Muslims to worship in our town," said Reverend Gareth Wilde, an accredited Baptist minister. "Abergavenny has a rich, peaceful history of non-conformist dissent from the 17th century where its adherents fought for religious freedom for those who didn't follow the established Church of England. "These would include Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterian and various other chapel-attending congregations. "Muslims are only asking to be treated with the same equality and respect and if anything should be prioritised above Christian churches wishing to use a community facility. "As an accredited Baptist minister I wholeheartedly agree with the MCC decision to let the Carnegie Library to Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association. Please be kind to Muslims in Wales." Another saddened resident said: "Never thought I'd see this in Abergavenny. A very sad day. We need to respect and understand everyone's beliefs and peacefully coexist in a society that has so much freedom." One local added: "I always thought that Abergavenny was a tolerant caring community and hopefully this abhorrent graffiti was perpetrated by some hateful person outside of our community. It remains a dark stain on us all. "This is no different from the religious persecution shown by the Nazis to the Jewish communities in the 1930s. Previous generations made a supreme sacrifice to overcome this kind of inhumanity. "It saddens me that the gross transgressions of the past are rearing their ugly head again." In response to the incident a sign has been placed over the graffiti reading: "What unites us is big + beautiful, what divides us is small + MEAN!" A Gwent Police spokesman said: 'We received a call at about 8.45am on Tuesday, June 10, reporting criminal damage after graffiti had been sprayed on the old library in Abergavenny overnight. 'This has now been cleaned off and we are treating it as a hate crime.' Inspector Emma Sowrey said: 'We have been carrying out onquiries to identify those responsible including house-to-house and reviewing CCTV. So far we've been able to establish that the damage happened at about 3am on June 10. 'I understand the concern that may be felt amongst our communities following this appalling incident which we are treating as a hate crime. 'We will not tolerate any such behaviour and are determined to identify the offenders and bring them to justice.' Anyone with any information is asked to call Gwent Police on 101 quoting 2500182567. You can also send a direct message on Facebook or X or online here. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit Article continues below Monmouthshire County Council has been approached for comment.
Korea Herald
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Ron Mueck's hyperrealist sculptures evoke fear, compassion
Australian artist's first major solo exhibition in Korea at MMCA showcases three decades of captivating sculpture Australian artist Ron Mueck's handmade sculptures of humans are stunningly realistic. One features a mother carrying her baby in a sling almost completely hidden by her large overcoat as she carries bags of groceries -- a scene you might encounter on any street. The artist titled the sculpture 'Woman with Shopping.' Mueck's first major exhibition in South Korea opened Friday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, where 24 of the artist's selected sculptures and documentary films are on display. At the entrance to the exhibition lies the artist's self-portrait sculpture 'Mask II' -- an oversized face lying sideways with the eyes closed and the mouth slightly open as though the figure is asleep. Not until the figure is seen from behind does it become clear that the face is a mask -- its head hollow and empty. The discovery leaves viewers baffled, forcing them to think about the presence that they had been so sure of when seen from the front. '(His art) is not to explain something, to preach something, or to speak to the audiences from a position of greater knowledge or authority. I think the work is an attempt to just allow a space for the viewers to contemplate for themselves,' said Charlie Clarke, an associate curator of the exhibition and director of the artist's studio, at the press tour on April 10. 'They don't look happy or sad or in any particular state, and I think that is because Ron is not trying to depict something very specific,' he added. Mueck's sculptures can be minute or monumental. He is known to have created only 48 works in his three-decade artistic career, sticking to the time-intensive, traditional sculptural process of clay molding and casting in silicone. His works are known to explore themes of humanity, death, vulnerability and birth, and evoke a variety of emotions through the delicate facial expressions and gestures of his subjects, which amount to psychological portraits. 'Although I spend a lot of time on the surface, it is the life inside I want to capture,' the artist once said of his work. The monumental installation 'Mass' comprises one hundred giant human skulls. The title itself can refer either to a heap or pile of something, a crowd of people or a religious ceremony. The installation, created in 2018, is the artist's pivotal work, showing his desire to embrace new ways of art in his style, according to the museum. 'Even if somehow it has a link with what we did before, it is a unique exhibition in the sense that you are going to see that 'Mass' installation ... has a very direct and very strong relationship with the venue it hosts,' said Chiara Agradi, associate curator of the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art. The foundation has maintained a long relationship with the artist, supporting his solo exhibitions since 2005.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US, Chinese military officials hold talks in Shanghai
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Chinese military officials met in Shanghai for a series of meetings which the U.S. military said on Thursday were focused on reducing unsafe actions by Chinese military ships and planes. "Military officials from the U.S. traveled to Shanghai, China to meet for working-level talks focused on decreasing the incidences of unsafe and unprofessional PLA Navy and PLA Airforce actions," the U.S. military statement said, using an acronym for the People's Liberation Army. The semi-annual talks, known as the military maritime consultative agreement (MMCA) working group, took place this week, the statement added. The United States has long complained about dangerous flying and sailing by the Chinese military in the region. China's military on Wednesday concluded two-day war games around Taiwan in which it held long-range, live-fire drills in the East China Sea, marking an escalation of exercises around the island.
Reuters
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US, Chinese military officials hold talks in Shanghai
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. and Chinese military officials met in Shanghai for a series of meetings which the U.S. military said on Thursday were focused on reducing unsafe actions by Chinese military ships and planes. "Military officials from the U.S. traveled to Shanghai, China to meet for working-level talks focused on decreasing the incidences of unsafe and unprofessional PLA Navy and PLA Airforce actions," the U.S. military statement said, using an acronym for the People's Liberation Army. The semi-annual talks, known as the military maritime consultative agreement (MMCA) working group, took place this week, the statement added. The United States has long complained about dangerous flying and sailing by the Chinese military in the region. China's military on Wednesday concluded two-day war games around Taiwan in which it held long-range, live-fire drills in the East China Sea, marking an escalation of exercises around the island.
