By Honorary Reporter Crystal Grant from U.S.

Photos = Crystal Grant

The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in New York and Korean Manhwa Contents Agency, both of which are branches of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, jointly hosted "Bang! K-webtoon," a free exhibition on Korean webtoons that ran from Oct. 31 to Dec. 16 at the KCC's Gallery Korea. As a big fan of K-dramas and webtoons, I decided to check out the event on Nov. 17.

The exhibition featured artwork from three popular webtoons -- "True Beauty," "The Red Sleeve" and "Naverilla: Like a Butterfly" -- that have all been adapted as dramas. Each section featured scenes and information from each series, making attendees feel like they were in the webtoon.

"True Beauty" section.

"True Beauty" has as one of its themes physical appearance, provoking thought on how physical looks affect a person's treatment and perception in society. The Korean web portal Naver ranks this series as one of the most read webtoons.

"Navervillera: Like a Butterfly" section

"Navervillera: Like a Butterfly" tells the story of a 70-year-old man who pursues his lifelong dream of ballet after the death of his friend. This series is credited with raising interest in ballet in Korea and has been made into both a TV series and musical.

A wall showing a scene from the webtoon "The Red Sleeve"

"The Red Sleeve" is a historical drama about the love story between a Joseon Dynasty king and a gungnyeo (court lady). This section of the exhibition also displayed traditional Hanbok and materials from the novels "Gwakjangyangmunrok" (loosely translated as Book of Letters between Gwak and Jang) and "Gungnyeosa" (Court Lady's Song). These two texts offer historical context on the lives of court women from this period, and the "Gwakjangyangmunrok" is also considered the first Korean novel written by hand.

Webtoons are digital comics that debuted in 2004 in Korea on the web portal Naver designed to be read on smartphones and other digital devices. Though this genre has been around nearly 20 years, only in the past few years has it received global recognition, with readers in over 100 countries. This exhibition captured the excitement surrounding webtoons in recent years.

kalhong617@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.