Tuesday 18 August 2009

Korean Air Donates Mega-sized Collage Artwork to Russia’s State Hermitage Museum


Korean Air today announced that it has donated a mega-sized collage work created by a group of college students in South Korea to commemorate the airline’s sponsorship of the recently unveiled Korean multimedia guide service at Russia’s State Hermitage Museum.

The 15.6m x 9.6m mega-sized collage features the exterior of the museum as well as a number of world renowned artworks such as “Woman Holding a Fruit” by Paul Gauguin. It was created through hard work by 67 South Korean students from Dankuk University for 10 days and nights starting on June 4. A total of 3240 magazines have been utilized for the collage. The UCC (User Created Contents) video that captured the process of collage creation has become an online sensation marking over 1.2 million hits by Korean online users, and over 2,250 international hits on the Korean Air YouTube channel:
(www.youtube.com/user/KoreanAirChannel#play/uploads/3/n7LTK7uys34).

Korean Air and the State Hermitage Museum hosted a ceremony at 12:30 pm (local time), Wednesday, August 12, at the Art Restoration and Storage Center of the State Hermitage Museum to celebrate the airline’s donation of the collage. Mr. Sung Moo Kim, General Manager of Korean Air’s airport service office in St. Petersburg, Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Dr. Vladimir Matveev, Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Development of the State Hermitage Museum and 10 students of Dankuk University who participated in the collage creation attended the ceremony.

This donation started at the suggestion of Korean Air in line with its sponsorship of the Korean multimedia guide service launched in June and the State Hermitage Museum has gladly accepted it. The collage artwork is being exhibited at the museum for all visitors to appreciate.

“It is our pleasure to receive the remarkable mega-sized collage that made such a big hit in Korea. We sincerely appreciate Korean Air and the Korean college students for their enormous efforts to showcase the State Hermitage Museum through the collage,” said Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum.

In order to express gratitude for the hard work done by the college students, Korean Air has provided 10 selected students and their professor with return tickets between Incheon and St. Petersburg as well as the chance to tour the State Hermitage Museum and historic sights in St. Petersburg. In addition, Kal Tour, a subsidiary tour agency of Korean Air, has supported the group’s accommodation expenses.

The group of students toured the State Hermitage Museum by experiencing the Korean language multimedia guide service and appreciated world renowned art pieces in greater depth with the lively explanations in the Korean language.

Gyu-Ho Lee, a representative of the student group who attended the donation ceremony, said, “I feel honored to see the collage which we worked on for ten nights and days to be exhibited at the world renowned State Hermitage Museum today. We hope that our efforts will enhance the level of cultural exchange between Korea and Russia.”

As a leading global carrier, Korean Air has made continuous efforts to spread Korean cultures around the world. Korean Air officially launched the new Korean multimedia guide service at the State Hermitage Museum in June and signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for further sponsorship over a five year period to produce the museum’s promotional materials, such as visitor guide maps and exhibition posters. The airline has also been sponsoring the Korean multimedia guide service of the Louvre Museum in Paris since February 2008.

Korean Air will expand its partnership with the world’s prestigious museums and develop various activities to contribute to global cultural understanding.

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