The Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (Director Haedon Lee) will hold a media art exhibition titled [Tradition in Motion: Korean Culture through Media Arts], featuring Korea’s traditional culture and contemporary daily life, on September 4th.

This media art exhibition, held simultaneously at the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles and the LA Korea Center, showcases fusion works that combine Korean traditional culture and art with the latest technologies, including digital media, immersive experiences, and AI. The sensory and visually striking media art pieces displayed on a giant high-definition LED screen will offer visitors a fresh way to appreciate Korea’s traditional culture and modern daily life, providing an immersive experience akin to traveling through Korea.

Combining artistic creativity, media art techniques, and cutting-edge digital screens, this exhibition is regarded as a rare opportunity to vividly and sensorially introduce Korea’s representative cultural heritage and the everyday lives of modern Koreans to the local audience in Los Angeles.

The media art exhibition will be shown daily during the Korean Cultural Center’s operating hours across two venues: the Media Art Wall on the first floor of the Korean Cultural Center LA and the Media Art Gallery in the LA Korea Center, featuring a total of 12 media art works.

At the Korean Cultural Center’s Media Art Wall, four works, centered on traditional culture and cultural heritage, come alive as captivating, sensory digital landscapes. The first piece, “Traditional Korean Instruments,” presents three-dimensional representations of traditional Korean musical instruments, including the saenghwang, unra, and wolgeum. Next, “Feast of Color” highlights the delicate beauty of Korean traditional crafts, including hwagakjang (lacquerware), moon jars, gilt-bronze incense burners, and jade crafts. “Beyond Korean Folk Painting” reinterprets Joseon Dynasty folk paintings with vivid brushstrokes and humorous visuals, breathing new life into beloved Korean folktales.

Especially, the AI media art piece “Timeless Legacy,” sponsored by the Korea Heritage Agency, is an immersive anamorphic (horizontally elongated) media art work that uses particle expression techniques to depict the creation process of traditional crafts made from natural materials such as clay, fire, wood, and metal—ceramics, wooden furniture, inlay, and embroidery. As a result, the elegance and beauty of Korean traditional crafts are reborn through sophisticated digital technology and refined modern sensibility, offering visitors a new level of visual immersion and artistic experience.

Meanwhile, the Media Art Gallery at the LA Korea Center primarily features works on the daily lives of contemporary Koreans and popular culture. One of the most impressive pieces, “Hello KCCLA,” displays colorful traditional Korean dancheong patterns rising above the Los Angeles skyline, greeting visitors with the Korean phrase “Annyeonghaseyo” (Hello). Following this, “Lantern Festival” digitally recreates a parade set against old palaces and streets, inspired by Korea’s traditional Buddhist lantern festival, Yeondeunghoe. “Whispers of Korea” guides viewers on a subway journey through iconic landmarks in Seoul, including Gwanghwamun, Namsan, and Seongsu-dong. “Sense of Wonder” expresses the noble charm and elegance of Korea through traditional dance performed by a hanbok-clad dancer. “The Wind from the East” is a poetic series that begins with Korea’s five cardinal colors (obangsaek), continues with ink paintings of pine trees and plum blossoms, and concludes with a radiant wave of light, offering visitors a deep appreciation of traditional Korean painting. Additionally, “Play K-Music,” a K-POP music video created with AI, provides a virtual concert experience featuring a surreal yet immersive AI-enhanced virtual idol group. The final piece, “Red Soul of Korea,” dynamically traces the birth of traditional Korean sauces — such as chili pepper and meju (fermented soybean blocks) — and their transformation into popular dishes like tteokbokki and Korean-style fried chicken.