19 August 2015 – A Filipino artist was among nearly two dozen Asian painters featured in a recent exhibition dedicated to Asian contemporary art in South Korea’s special autonomous province of Jeju.

Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Raul S. Hernandez attended theopening ceremony of the 2015 Jeju-Asian Contemporary Art Special Exhibition on August 08 at the Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art located in the Jeoji Culture and Art Village in Jeju City, capital of the province and island of the same name in the southern part of the country.

In a speech, Ambassador Hernandez, who was accompanied by First Secretary and Consul General Iric C. Arribas, commended the Museum for organizing the exhibition entitled “Asia, Talk to Asia,” which provides a window into Asia and the dynamic realm of contemporary art as well as an opportunity to promote and foster mutual understanding of Asian cultures.

This exhibition, which runs until October 12, was organized to generate greater understanding of the Asian contemporary art scene, enhance cultural exchange among countries in the Asian region and promote discourse on the future of Asian contemporary art.   

Ambassador Hernandez, Indian Ambassador Vikram Kumar Doariswami and Museum Directors Kim Yon-suk and Choa Moo-kyoung formally opened the event, which exhibited 70 curated contemporaryworks displaying a range of styles (abstract to realist) and genres (paintings to sculptures) by 22 renowned artists from the Philippines, Korea, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Representing the Philippines was an oil painting of Manila-born artist Leslie De Chavez, “Anok Artists, Artist Kuno.” A Fine Arts graduate of the University of the Philippines, De Chavez employs a socialist-realist style to depicting major social issues in his works, which have already had solo exhibitions in Seoul (2006) and Cheonan (2011) in South Korea, Zurich, Switzerland (2008), and Beijing (2007).

Since its establishment in 2007, the Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art has served as a venue for cultural and artistic enjoyment for art patrons. END