The Jeju Sea Upcycle Marine Resources Exhibition, one of the "2022 Jeju Sea Love Jeju Ae Sea Project Project" organized by Jeju Maeil, is being held successfully this year following last year.
Under the theme of Upcycling the Sea, the special exhibition, which has been held since October 31 at the Samyang Multipurpose Living Culture Center in Jeju City, is an event that displays upcycling products that naturalize marine waste collected from the Jeju sea.
Upcycling is a new concept recycling method that newly designs discarded objects and reborn them as objects of high artistic and environmental value. Upcycling, called "recycling," has landed in Korea in the early 2000s since it began in Northern Europe in the early 1990s.
It means that it will be reborn as a product for a new purpose through the process of adding a new design, although it maintains its existing form and role beyond simply recycling products that are discarded.
In Jeju Island, various ideas have been piloted in recent years to collect garbage thrown into the Jeju sea through upcycling and use it as a new resource, improving residents' awareness.
The upcycling exhibition, which is being held this year, exhibits about 150 works at Hyanga Workshop, Sea Writing, and Gujwa Village Travel Agency Cooperative Association.
This year, following last year, Kim Ji-hwan, CEO of Bada Tsuji, who is dedicated to guiding ecological art education, is producing and presenting works.
CEO Kim is producing and exhibiting artworks from driftwood, plastic, and styrofoam collected off the coast of Iho, Jeju City. CEO Kim is realizing his dream of making upcycling a daily life by informing Jeju residents and tourists as well as growing children of the importance of the Jeju sea environment.
Seo Ok-hee, CEO of Hyanga Workshop, who has been steadily producing upcycling works as an alternative to protect the environment of the Jeju sea after moving to Gimnyeong-ri, Gujwa-eup, is also exhibiting his works. CEO Seo introduced a new art genre, Calligraphy (hand-painted text), into upcycling. Based on driftwood and glass sculptures collected from the coast of Gimnyeong, Seo has produced and exhibited 10 kinds of upcycling works that express plain letters uniquely and creatively.
The upcycling exhibition, which is being held this year, exhibits about 150 works at Hyanga Workshop, Sea Writing, and Gujwa Village Travel Agency Cooperative Association.
In particular, hats made of plastic collected from the coast of Jeju were exhibited at the exhibition, drawing attention from visitors.
Jeju Maeil strives to promote the importance of preserving the sea environment through the production of exhibits made of marine waste from the sea of Jeju every year.
At the same time, by exhibiting ideas using marine waste as a resource, it is raising a pan-national awareness of the creation of a beautiful Jeju sea environment. The exhibits reflect on the importance of the marine environment through the production of products made using marine resources and exhibits that students and children in the province can experience.
Ko Min-young (11), who toured the special exhibition with her family for the weekend, said, "It was a pity to see disposable plastic cups that adults drank floating in the sea, but it was great to see plastic cups made of pretty hats."
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
(Picture from Unsplash)