Kim Hye-kyung Views Hanji Artworks with Brigitte Macron

【Financial News, Paris, France = Reporter Seong Seok-woo】Kim Hye-kyung, who is accompanying President Lee Jae Myung on a state visit to France, viewed hanji artworks with Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French president, in Paris on the 8th (local time).
According to Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a deputy spokesperson for the presidential office, Kim Hye-kyung visited the Hanji Mania special exhibition with Brigitte Macron that day at the Hôtel de la Marine, a Paris cultural heritage site. Held as part of Paris Design Week, the exhibition featured works by Korean artists using hanji made by Kim Sam-sik, a master of hanji craftsmanship and a holder of a National Intangible Cultural Heritage designation, as well as collaborative works by Korean and French artists.
The two women toured the exhibition with Ahn Kang-eun and Catherine Luro, the directors who co-curated the event, and heard the directors and artists from both countries explain the works’ production processes and meanings.
Brigitte Macron examined works that used hanji as a medium that absorbs and transmits light, showing interest in the texture and material properties of hanji. Kim Hye-kyung introduced it by saying, "Hanji is made from paper mulberry using our own traditional techniques, and it is paper with excellent preservation and durability."
The two women also viewed hanji lighting and hanji flower artworks together. Kim Hye-kyung said, "It seems to show that hanji can preserve its long tradition while also being used as a material in various fields, including art, crafts and design."
They also took part in a performance in which Mungyeong hanji was inserted into a structure to complete the artwork. Singer Hwasa accompanied them on the exhibition visit and presented the two women with her album in a case made of hanji.
Kim Hye-kyung encouraged the artists, saying, "It was impressive to see artists from the two countries continue their creative exchange through hanji." Brigitte Macron said, "It was amazing to see the hanji works blend so naturally into the Hôtel de la Marine, as if they had been there from the beginning."
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