Today’s round-up looks at a poet inspired art exhibition and a statue planned for Coleridge.

Visualized Poetry of Kim So-Wol to be Subject of Exhibition

An art exhibition is to take place in Seoul based on the poems of Kim So-Wol. The art consists of paintings inspired by the works of the poet, and has been created to mark the 100^th anniversary of his 1920 debut.

The exhibition is the concept of the Daesan Foundation who have confirmed that the exhibition can be seen at the Kyobo Artspace which is in Seoul until 30^th September. There will be a total of 35 pieces of artwork on display, created by 6 painters. All the artwork was inspired by one of the poet’s poems.

On the 5^th October, the exhibition will be moved to the Delight Artwall which is also in Seoul, it will remain at this second location until 6^th December.

Kim has been one of the most beloved all Korean modern poets. He debuted in 1920. During a period of 5 to 6 years when Korea was under occupation by the Japanese, and he penned over 100 works. They mostly described the sentiments and delicate of emotions of nature and interpersonal relationships.

In addition to the exhibition, the Daesan Foundation has also released a series of six audio files that contain readings of Kim’s poems so that they can be enjoyed by visitors to the exhibition whilst they look at the artwork.

The exhibition is held as part of the foundation’s project which they hope will visualise modern writers in a way that will help to promote literature with those people who are not familiar with modern writing. The project has been running since 2006 and previous years have been inspired by writers like Baek Seok, Hwang Sun-won and Yi Sang.

Statue of Coleridge Receives Funding

The fundraising efforts to place a life-sized statue of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the most famous son of Ottery St Mary, have reached their first important milestone.

The statue is the idea of the Coleridge Memorial Trust, who have already been granted the appropriate permission by the East Devon District Council for the bronze statue which they hope to place in the grounds of St Mary’s Church. The first phase of the work will require £50,000 and the project will require a total of £80,000.

The project has been donated £5160 from the community grants panel of the council for them to reach their crowdfunding total of £20,000, which will be put with the £30,000 that they have already raised.

The trust is excited about the statue which they say will be a very positive celebration of the cultural history of the area and a good way to celebrate the legacy of Coleridge.

Coleridge was born in the parish in 1772, and his father was a vicar there. The statue is to be installed towards the south side of the church in the grounds where the poet spent much of his youth. It will be made of bronze and placed on top of a granite plinth which will be made of local stone.

Coleridge was a staunch supporter of the abolition of the slave trade and actively campaigned for the cause so the statue is seen as being very much on topic. It is hoped that the statue, the first life-size one of the poet, will be in place for the 250^th anniversary of his birth in 2022.