Samwon Paper Gallery is the host of the first exhibition in this series which – interestingly and incongruously – will be exploring the link between culture clash in Korea by using the subtexts of hangul and faeces.
Yes, faeces. Crap. Poo. Dong, as it’s known in Korean. Whatever you call the waste that comes out of your body, Korean and international graphic designers are bringing to the forefront unusual comments, stories and reactions surrounding it by using Korea and typography as the underlying theme.
Soo Kim, a Korean American designer, allowed us to publish some of her artwork for this exhibition. Soo will mainly be looking at language, and how talking about ‘shit’ differs in Korean and western societies. As stated on one of her posters, “Poop is not a taboo subject in South Korea, there is a real fascination with poop and poop humor in Korea. Poop-shaped pastries and desserts, pencil cases, stuffed animals, key chains, anything poop-shaped you could possibly imagine.”
This is certainly a cultural phenomenon that baffles many expats living in Korea. Soo Kim explains further: “It’s OK to talk about bowel problems in Korean small talk (at least for some groups, particularly older folks), but it’s really strange to North Americans (and I’m pretty sure people from other English speaking nations would agree).”
Post Text: The destiny of shit is on at Samwon Paper Gallery from Saturday the 8th of December until the 12th of January. Check out the exhibition’s to find out more.
Images courtesy of
