Sewol Ferry Victim's Art Exhibition





On the morning of April 16, 2014, a Korean ferry called the Sewol was making it's way from Incheon, South Korea to Jeju Island when it capsized and sank taking with it around 300 souls. Most of the victims were students from Danwon High School. You can read more about the details of the sinking here. There is a lot of speculation as to what caused the sinking and the Koreans are blaming everyone from the Korean president to the Captain of the Sewol who was not at the helm during the tragedy. He did survive and is presently in jail charged with murder.

 

My intention is not to place blame but to share with you some of the amazing talented students who perished. I had heard about an exhibition that showcased the artwork of some of the students who perished. I knew that this was one exhibition that I had to see and KJ was kind enough to take me to it. It was on the second floor of a nondescript building in northern Seoul. The first floor of the building was a coffee shop with a sign telling you that this was not the entrance to the exhibition and that is was around the corner.

As we climbed the stairs, we found the walls covered with Post-It notes from family, friends and visitors to the exhibition.

                                         I had never seen so many Post-It notes in my life.

                         Some even left drawings. It was so moving to see but heartbreaking.

 

The following photos are from the victim's families sharing last moments of their beloved children. Cellphones recovered from the victims were returned to their families where family members found photos but also videos which I will share at the end of this post.

As you enter the exhibition, there is table for you to sign in and also offering these free bracelets.

This is the exhibition room.

           The following photos are artwork of some of the students who lost their lives on the Sewol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers and favorite snacks of the victims were left by friends and family members and they lined the walls of the room.

 

 

 

I saw this dead flower arrangement in the corner of the room and it brought so many emotions out in me. Anger that this had even happened. Profound sadness at the loss of life. Sympathy for family and friends that are left to carry on. And hope that this will never ever happen again.

On our trip to Korea, we saw Sewol demonstrations every day. There is so much sadness in Korea right now and I believe there will be for some time. It was a difficult exhibition to view but I'm profoundly changed by it and it reinforces my belief that every day is precious.

Here are some videos taken inside the Sewol by students:

Maedeup Monday!

I had a lot of time to kill on the flight to Korea. Fourteen hours sitting in a airplane seat could drive one mad (especially if you don't particularly care to fly) if you don't plan for it. I always carry on lots of things for me to do to keep my mind away from thinking how long I will sitting.

 

I had bought an extra large purse just for this purpose. Things I brought to do inflight: a book to read, maedeup projects, knitting, and a sketchbook. I also made use of the inflight movies and caught up on a ton of movies and documentaries. Some of the movies I watched: Captain Phil, The Fault in Our Stars, Saving Mr. Banks, and Nebraska just to name a few. I truly wish I was one of those that can sleep on an airplane.

 

I made these garakjis while inflight. I cannot carry on my awl but improvised by taking a bobby pin and straightening it. It works pretty well as a makeshift awl.

I made some chakra necklaces with the garakjis and you can find them in my Etsy shop if you are interested. I only made five necklaces so get them while you can. Tomorrow I will continue with our Korean trip with a trip to one of the most painful place I have ever visited.

2014 South Korea Vacation - Part 2 - Gwangjang Market Lunch

Shopping with KJ our first morning in Korea was a dream come true for me. The time quickly flew by and before we knew it, it was time for lunch. I can not think of a more delicious place to have lunch than Gwangjang Market. It is also a favorite of Rocketman.  We decided to have some mandu guk (dumpling soup) at our favorite place in the market. These are the dumplings they pluck to add to their broth.

                                                    The side dishes are delicious and fresh.

It was our first meal in Korea and it did not disappoint. It was so delicious but I wasn't able to finish the entire bowl. The bowls are huge!

Rocketman had his camera and took lots of pictures around and in the market.

 

 

 

 

Shortly after lunch, Rocketman returned to the hotel while KJ and I continued on to check out some exhibitions. There was one that left me with tears in my eyes and so much sorrow in my soul. I will share that special exhibition with you in a separate post.

2014 South Korea Vacation - Part One - Gwangjang Market with KJ!

Our vacation to South Korea came as a complete surprise especially to me. Rocketman had been mentioning taking a trip for many months but for some reason I didn't want to go this year. I didn't have any strong reason for this feeling. It could have been the memories(nightmares) of our last Korea vacation where Rocketman found himself in the hospital due to a kidney stone and the subsequent surgery. Cherry blossom time (April) is my favorite time of year in Korea. The temperature and humidity is perfect (at least for this Minnesota girl) and doesn't leave you looking like you just got out of the shower as soon as you leave your hotel room.

 

It could have been that Rocketman now does not travel to Asia like he did in his previous division (for which I am profoundly grateful) and we no longer had business-class upgrades. Fourteen hours in the air in Coach is tough to do. It could have been that for the first time in a long time we would have to pay for the flights which is not cheap to South Korea. Rocketman's lifetime accumulation of 2 million miles on Delta had given us wonderful perks through the years. And along those lines, all the money it costs in airline tickets, hotel, presents, eating out all the time, and shopping. I think it all played into my decision to skip the "Land of the Morning Calm" for 2014.

 

But fate had a different plan. The first thing that happened was I was out with my sister for lunch and I mentioned Rocketman prodding us to go to Korea this Fall and she told me we should go. Life was too short. Just do it. This was followed shortly with an email from our Korean friend, Hannah, saying she was quitting her job and asking us out of the blue to come so she could spend every day with us (something her jobs had never allowed in the past). The final straw was the very next day getting a Kakao Talk text from Hellena, another Korean friend, telling us she too was quitting her job as a flight attendant, that she was getting married and really wanted us to attend her wedding. As far as I was concerned, the heavens had spoken.  As soon as we had Hellena's wedding date firm, we booked our flights.

 

Since we would fly out of Minneapolis/St. Paul on Delta, we would first have to fly a leg to Detroit and then from Detroit to Incheon. We also had a ton of luggage(lots of presents). We each had two large checked and each had a carry on. It was brutal. But we were so grateful when our son offered to drop us off and my sister offered to pick us up on our return. We also had Hannah order a large van to pick us up once we arrived in Korea to take us to the hotel.

 

As we waited for our Incheon flight, we found this little guy flying about entertaining all of us. He was very tame.

 

The flight went well and we arrived in Incheon the evening of August 29th. As I waited for our luggage after clearing customs, Rocketman turned on his phone only to find a text from Hellena. She was at the airport waiting to meet us! We were shocked and so happy. I mean, she was only getting married in two days so I'm sure she had lots of free time, not! She also had picked up our portable WiFi eggs so that we didn't have to do that before leaving the airport. When I saw her I couldn't believe it and we never let each other go as we made our way through the airport. The driver was also waiting and thankfully had a huge van.

 

We got to our room around 8 pm and Hellena visited for a few hours while I unpacked and then it was time for bed. Rocketman and I have never been able to sleep on planes. I really admire those that can. We had a busy day planned for Saturday, our first day in Korea so we said our goodbyes to Hellena and would be seeing her on her wedding day that Sunday.

 





I planned on meeting KJ, my bojagi teacher, at 10:00am at our hotel. I wasn't sure what kind of shape I would be in so I thought it would be safe to have her come to the hotel and if I felt well enough we could go shopping and if not, we could at least visit in our room. Last year, I felt pretty ill the first few days we were in Korea. Luckily, I felt great and I finally got a picture of the two of us after all these years. We headed out to Gwangjang Market to do some bojagi (Korean quilting) shopping. It's one of my favorite places in all of Seoul. Rocketman loves it too for the food vendors.

We stopped at a new ramie shop.

                                        I couldn't decide what I wanted. The ramie was just beautiful.

There is fabric everywhere in Gwangjang Market.

Next stop was a silk thread vendor. He had every color imaginable. KJ helped me to pick out a bunch of colors and the prices were amazing.

 

The next stop was my underground fabric shop which is near Gwangjang Market. This is where I get that beautiful sheer fabric. This place is always busy so you know it's good.

                      Gwangjang Market along with Dongdaemun is the place to go for hanboks.

Choosing your hanbok fabric is always a family affair. Rocketman took this photo at one of the hanbok shops. I've even seen shops where you must remove your shoes before entering and you sit on the floor.

I am a huge fan of KJ's work. She is truly a talent and before we came to Korea I asked her if I could buy a thimble or two that she made. She made me five and they had chasu (embroidery) done by herself on both sides. I was in shocked and so overwhelmed at her generosity. You have no idea the time that goes into making just one. The thread used in chasu is silk and it takes forever to do.

This is the reverse side of the thimbles. I will treasure them forever.

                                             This is the fabric I came home with.

                                                                And the thread.

And a few presents from vendors. I'm still not done with things we did our first Saturday in Korea. The next post will focus on the food of Gwangjang Market, Rocketman's favorite subject.

Maedeup Monday!

I love getting custom orders like this one from the head chef, Rita, at Donatelli's.  She is a HUGE Minnesota Vikings fan so of course she wanted me to use their colors.  She loved it as much as I love her cooking. I'm still working on stealing her away from Don's to be our chef:)

I can't wait to visit South Korea and have compiled pages of places I want to go and people we must see. It's going to be an amazing time.