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sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
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 Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 10:10 pm Post subject: Disappointing Rodin exhibition has no English! |
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Saturday was my day to meet up with my arty friends and see the new exhibitions at the National Museum and the Seoul Museum of Art. Here's what I observed. Yes, I took notes.
We went to see the ancient Greek art exhibit at the National Museum of Korea. The museum was filled with many large groups of children. The exhibit features many statues and some pottery. Most of the signs have English translations. I would recommend the exhibit for anyone that appreciates art and wants to learn something about ancient Greece. There are also some interesting souvenirs at the gift shop at the end of the exhibit. I bought an orange coffee mug.
The Rodin exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art featured many works of art by the artist, and the exhibition overall is pleasing to the eye. But there's nothing written in English anywhere in the exhibition area. The only English is in the English brochure. Everything is in Korean and the titles are in French and Korean. We were very disappointed since other exhibitions at the Seoul Museum of Art have included English explanations. Some of you may not mind but this is supposed to be an international exhibition featuring a "foreign" artist and the website for the exhibition does include pages in English. Many of the souvenirs were very expensive. In fact some were more than 1 million won. But there are some posters for 3,000 won and postcards. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 10:35 pm Post subject: Re: Disappointing Rodin exhibition has no English! |
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| sojusucks wrote: |
| ... the titles are in French and Korean... this is supposed to be an international exhibition featuring a "foreign" artist |
If the works were in French then I don't see the problem. Great art works are usually displayed in the artists' original language and in the local language. Should there have been a third language added? No.
Rodin sculpted "Le Penseur" (not "The Thinker", though in English countries it's known by the translation, in the art world and in most countries of the world it is Le Penseur or else the local translation).
Don't be so hick. Yes, you were disappointed, expecting English, but your disappointment is more about misplaced expectations than valid criticism.
The original names are on the artwork. Write them down and look them up on the 'net afterwards. Go back for a second look, look at pictures you took of it or else use your rmemory to appreciate it further.
There is a price to pay for not speaking the local language. Pay it. There's also a price to be paid for doing art appreciation half-assed. You're paying for that.
There are a thousand legitimate criticisms one could make about the use/misuse/lack of English in South Korea, but this ain't one of them. |
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sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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| How hard would it have been to put up some signs in English? Not too hard. International art exhibition means what? That it's accessible to everyone. The Seoul Museum of Art has made an effort to make exhibitions accessible to English speakers in the past. Every other major museum in Seoul offers English explanations for their exhibitions. Dude, even the website that advertises this exhibition has English pages. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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| sojusucks wrote: |
| International art exhibition means what? That it's accessible to everyone. |
International art exhibit means display of international artist.
And of the million-plus foreigners in Korea, there are more Chinese than those from English countries, so if the exhibits are to be 'for everyone', then ought they not be - by your reasoning not mine - in Chinese before English? Probably it'd make no difference to the Vietnamese and Pakistanis in Korea. But, of course, international exhibit does not mean anything about the audience at the gallery.
The titles were in French of works by a French artist. The original names suffice.
Again, your disappointment is understandable. You had expectations given the website and some other exhibits (though I went to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit in Seoul a few years ago and like Rodin, there was no English on the artwork displays but an English brochure at the entrance).
But moral indignation? They should have provided English? Uh, no. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| sojusucks wrote: |
| International art exhibition means what? That it's accessible to everyone. |
International art exhibit means display of international artist.
And of the million-plus foreigners in Korea, there are more Chinese than those from English countries, so if the exhibits are to be 'for everyone', then ought they not be - by your reasoning not mine - in Chinese before English? Probably it'd make no difference to the Vietnamese and Pakistanis in Korea. But, of course, international exhibit does not mean anything about the audience at the gallery.
The titles were in French of works by a French artist. The original names suffice.
Again, your disappointment is understandable. You had expectations given the website and some other exhibits (though I went to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit in Seoul a few years ago and like Rodin, there was no English on the artwork displays but an English brochure at the entrance).
But moral indignation? They should have provided English? Uh, no. |
However, Seoul claims it is a global city and says it makes strides to be international. |
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air76
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Bibbitybop wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| sojusucks wrote: |
| International art exhibition means what? That it's accessible to everyone. |
International art exhibit means display of international artist.
And of the million-plus foreigners in Korea, there are more Chinese than those from English countries, so if the exhibits are to be 'for everyone', then ought they not be - by your reasoning not mine - in Chinese before English? Probably it'd make no difference to the Vietnamese and Pakistanis in Korea. But, of course, international exhibit does not mean anything about the audience at the gallery.
The titles were in French of works by a French artist. The original names suffice.
Again, your disappointment is understandable. You had expectations given the website and some other exhibits (though I went to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit in Seoul a few years ago and like Rodin, there was no English on the artwork displays but an English brochure at the entrance).
But moral indignation? They should have provided English? Uh, no. |
However, Seoul claims it is a global city and says it makes strides to be international. |
+1
The whole "they should have it in Chinese if anything" argument is bogus...English IS the international language and it will be for quite some time. Furthermore, both of those two art museums have been pushing to get a more international audience, so therefore it would make sense to have more information in the international language, which is English whether you like it or not.
Same goes for "that's what you get for not learning Korean"....please, Korea says over and over and over again that they want to be a truly international country, increase tourism, and become an English speaking nation. If one were to complain about the ajoshi at the market not speaking English that would be asinine, but having English at the Seoul Museum of Art certainly falls in line with what the leaders of Seoul and Korea say is the direction they want to see the city and the country take.
Most major museums around the world provide information in English...and if the top two museums in Seoul hope to be considered in the same company as the museums in other top cities around the world, then they should provide English information as well. It's not about the English teachers, it's about the entire international community.
I don't think that the OP's complaint is out of line at all...he simply said that he was disappointed that there was no English explanations in a situation where he thought that there would be. |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 12:04 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the warning! I'll be sure to bring my dictionary and art book  |
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mattdsoares
Joined: 04 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 1:18 am Post subject: |
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I've been to many, many major and not so major museums around the world in nearly every case there are descriptions or at least labels in both the local language and English.
Museums are not just for locals. They are also a means for a city or country to showcase itself to the world and attract tourists. As others have said, English IS the international language right now. By not having the exhibit with some English they're limiting their audience, which is plain dumb on the museum's part. Not only will Yanks, Canucks, and Limeys have trouble, but so will everyone else who doesn't speak French or Korean.
Is it an injustice that it isn't in English? No, but it's poor planning on the Museum's part. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 1:42 am Post subject: |
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| Well, it's good that someone saw the two big shows and posted about them. Now the rest of us know what to expect. This came up before, but doesn't the Seoul Museum of Art have someone who can help them with English words and phrases so that situations like these are avoided? You would think that they would have connections with plenty of well-educated profs and such who could handle it with ease. There are plenty of Korean artists who have regular shows in major cities all around the world, including the USA. Maybe they could help out with translations? |
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Wishmaster
Joined: 06 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 2:16 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, for a country that likes to use words like "global" and "leader", they sure fail. Pretty dumb to put it in only French and Korea. And, last I looked, Chinese ain't an international language, so that argument is total nonsense. |
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thomas pars
Joined: 29 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 7:25 am Post subject: |
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| Ever notice the plaques noting significant Korean cultural heritage sites, i.e Suwon Castle, Dondeamun Gate, are in BOTH korean and english. It's done ALL the time. My guess is that the museum was lazy or cheap...or probably both. |
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PigeonFart
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 7:34 am Post subject: |
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puh, anglais! merde.
I'm wallowing in my own deep sense of self-satisfaction right now. Vive la francophonie. Vive l'Europe. |
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Easter Clark
Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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Quit your moaning. You live in Korea, go to an art exhibition in Korea, then complain when it's all in Korean? Gimme a break.  |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, if it's advertised in English, and the booklet is in English, it would have only taken a little work to have the plaques translated. It's false advertising. |
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beeedeeewong
Joined: 26 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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| The Rodin sculpture garden at Stanford is way better than this one. |
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