Bound treasures: Graphic art in Korean children’s books of the mid-20th century, and: Round and Round in a Circle: Illustrations from Korea (review)

Korea was this year’s 2009 guest of honour at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The exhibition featured nearly one hundred illustrators with a total of 330 originals. The accompanying catalogue, Round and Round in a Circle, displays the wide variety of styles and impressively demonstrates the high quality of contemporary Korean children’s book illustration. Recent years have witnessed an impressive comeback of Korean illustration that has aroused attention on both the national and international level. The picture book Waiting for Mama, illustrated by Kim Dong-Seong, for example, enjoyed considerable success and was published in bilingual editions in Germany, France, and the United States. Readers were especially touched by the delicate blend of whimsical sobriety. Overall, the catalogue features a number of interesting artists, but also includes all those technically skilled illustrators of average talent who still have to find their own voice.

In Korea, illustrations are considered at least as important as the text. Internationally high-ranking festivals such as the CJ Picture Book Festival or the Nami Island International Children’s Festival have recently sprouted from the ground; no other Asian country acquires as many foreign rights of picture books. Sok-ghee Baek, president of the Korean Publishers Association, recently observed that illustrations not only bring texts to life and enhance them, but also tell their own stories and promote learning. Korea has become a paradise of children’s book illustration. One reason for this success is that illustrators have worked hard at establishing and expanding a truly original tradition.

The Art Center for Children’s Books at Pajubookcity and the National Library for Children and Young Adults have published the catalogue Bound Treasures that documents the beginnings and turbulent history of Korean children’s book illustration using a wealth of artwork. The survey goes back to the 1920s, when the first magazines for children were published, including the magazine Eorini (Children), which was repeatedly banned during the years of Japanese occupation. The cover designs of the issues between the liberation in 1945 and the beginning of the Korean War in 1950 are especially convincing and compelling. Typical for these years is a balancing act between Western aesthetics and the Korean national tradition. The well-annotated catalogue presents a selection of those historical children’s magazines, which are currently being restored and digitized. Originally they were printed on low-quality paper that threatens to disintegrate. Following the armistice of 1953, Korean illustrators were left to fend for themselves, completely cut off from the Western world. The production of these decades is truly astounding given the extremely poor material conditions of the time. More than one hundred pages show reproductions, which exhibit a surprisingly independent visual language. Among the most impressive illustrations are those that extend Korean folk art into the realm of the abstract. Leafing through this documentation will leave no reader unmoved. It is a testimony to the fact that times of political oppression and social hardship often bring forth the greatest art.