By Honorary Reporter Donatella Astolfi from Italy
Photos = Andrea Vecera

This year marks the 140th anniversary of Korea's diplomatic relations with Italy. Andrea Vecera is the Italian designer who created the official logo for the occasion, combining the traits of both countries.

 
Vecera has lived in Korea for several years and collaborates with the private and public sectors, cultural institutions and the Italian Embassy in Seoul. He has also created graphics for the Italian Cultural Institute of Seoul.

The following are excerpts from an Aug. 8 email interview with Vecera. 

Briefly introduce yourself.
I mainly design products and graphics but also love illustration and art, so I try to weave these fields as much as possible. I've taught for project culture for over 10 years at Italian universities because I believe that at the base of a good project is good culture. Being fascinated by all arts such as cinema, music and theater as well as history and science, I create works that often combine these disciplines.

How did you get to design the logo for the Year of Cultural Exchange project? 
The logo was requested by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, and I designed it with the intention of using a single icon to unite and fuse the two cultures. I focused on two unusual references famous in their respective countries but perhaps less familiar to those from other cultures: the Italian poet Dante Alighieri and the traditional Korean hat gat. My goal was to merge them to trigger interest by one country in the other's culture.

Explain your designs for the Italian Cultural Institute of Seoul.
I aimed to find a harmonious blend between the two cultures and explored monuments, historical figures, and icons of art and literature where both countries intertwine their stories. A leaflet with the carved shape of the Colosseum opens up to show Gyeongbokgung Palace, one of Seoul's top historical landmarks.

A bookmark was inspired by the iconic inclination of the Leaning Tower of Pisa merged with the verticality of N Seoul (formerly Namsan) Tower.

The notepad has overlapping profiles of Dante and King Sejong the Great, the fathers of their respective countries' languages.

And the tote bag features graphic elements typical of Italian textile and Korean decorative art, illustrated in black on a white background.

You also designed the poster for the Busan International Performing Arts Festival.
I'm really proud of this project because I had a lot of fun making it. The theme of this year's festival was "Global Link from BIPAF," so I invented a character to reflect this. The graphic represents actors' tangled bodies on stage in the form of one body, but different ethnicities and cultures stand out through colors and costumes.

What projects do you have planned in Korea?
First, I have more projects with the Italian Cultural Institute of Seoul. The Italian Pavilion of the Gwangju Biennale opens in September, and I designed the visual identity. The same month will see the art fair Frieze Seoul, where I collaborated with the Italian Embassy through the visual identity project "Italy at Frieze." 

I'm also working with Korean companies and want to experiment with production here. I plan to hold creativity workshops for children with museums in Korea and a solo exhibition.

msjeon22@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.