Pak Kyongni’s ‘Land’ Revisited Through 30 Paintings at Literary Art Exhibition in Gwanghwamun

[Financial News] Novelist Pak Kyongni’s epic novel *Land* is meeting readers through 30 paintings. To mark the 100th anniversary of the author’s birth, eight artists have newly interpreted key scenes from the novel.
According to Kyobo Book Centre on the 9th, the literary art exhibition *The Light of the Sky, the Light of the Earth*, organized with The Daesan Foundation, opened on the 8th at Kyobo Art Space in Kyobo Book Centre’s Gwanghwamun branch in Jongno District, Seoul. The exhibition will run through October 27.
*Land* is a 20-volume epic novel in five parts that Pak Kyongni (1926–2008) completed over approximately 26 years. It portrays the lives of ordinary people from the late Joseon period through Japanese colonial rule and liberation, and has also been adapted into various media, including television dramas, films, and comics.
The exhibition features Gil Hyeon, Kim Seon-du, Park Mun-jong, Sejin Park, Park Yeong-geun, An Joong-kyung, Lee Dong-hwan, and Seunghee Hong. Based on 30 scenes selected from the novel, they created 30 paintings.
Lee Seung-yoon, chairman of the Land Studies Society, selected the scenes. The selection comprises 10 scenes from Part 1, five from Part 2, four from Part 3, five from Part 4, and six from Part 5, allowing visitors to follow the work’s overall narrative, historical setting, and emotional tone.
Excerpts and paintings are displayed together in the order in which the novel unfolds. Visitors can follow the story while comparing the figures and atmosphere highlighted by each artist with the original text.
The exhibition’s title comes from a passage in Part 4, Episode 1, Chapter 12, “Recital,” of *Land*. The passage expresses a character’s desire to take the diverse light of nature into their inner world.
An exhibition catalog, *The Light of the Sky, the Light of the Earth*, has also been published. It contains images of the 30 exhibited works, excerpts from key scenes, and Lee Seung-yoon’s commentary on the exhibition. The catalog will be given to visitors who participate in exhibition-related events.
The literary art exhibition series began in 2006 to bring literature and visual art together and narrow the distance between works and readers. It has since presented paintings inspired by works by Park Taewon, Yi Sang, Baek Seok, Hwang Sun-Won, Yoon Dong-joo, Shin Dong-yup, Kim Sowol, Kim Su-young, Kim Chun-su, and Yi Yuksa.

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