Gwangju International Center

Donators: Dale Friesen, Isabelle Byrnes, Hughie Samson, Julian Raethel, Heather Bucurel, Jessie Calderon, Kyle Johnson, Brooke Lembke, Renee Grouskay, Leroy Kucia, Jennifer Greeley, Karina Prananto, Jo Park and other anonymous contributors.  (Total: 13 donators, 247 books) Thank you very much for your kind donation. We would really appreciate it if you could notify us in case of spelling or genre errors.  Please click the Excel file for the full list.

· Date: January 7th, 3 p.m. · Subject: Detroit - The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of a City · Speaker: Krysta Hand (ESL Instructor) Detroit: the rise, fall and rebirth of a city - Review Written by_Sohaeng Seo (GIC Intern) Editted by_Hughie Samson (GIC Volunteer) Before this talk, I did not know much about Detroit. This lecture gave me the information about the city how citizens’ voluntary efforts can help change a place. It is said that Detroit had been through a rise and a fall in its history, but the speaker also shared with us the fact that the city has been getting better thanks to people who want to be better and voluntarily are making their efforts to rebuild it Since Henry Ford established his automobile company in 1903, the city had been very prosperous. Other automobile companies also contribute to this prosperity. Many people moved to the city to get jobs in the auto industry. The number of people increased until World War 2. After the war, highways were constructed and people began to leave the city and live in suburbs. This eventually led to racial segregation. The “great migration” had led to many African Americans moving to the city from the south to get jobs, but they were not able to live in the suburbs as other European Americans did after the highways were made. Afterwards, a vicious cycle was established, which led to an increase in the rate of crime inside the city, which European Americans had left behind. It is true that Detroit has experienced much decay, but now some positive changes are happening and people, particularly the youth are wanting something new. The speaker showed us several examples. I was astonished to learn about things like urban gardening and the Heidelberg Project. Urban gardening is an initiative that lets people grown their food with their own hands, because there are few grocery store; Heidelberg Project was initiated to fill neighborhoods with art to draw attention to them to prevent crime. Now, this small movement has spread out and many talented young artists join the reconstruction. During the talk, I was really touched by a quote: We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes. The changes that have been made in Detroit show that if many people want something to get better, things can get better and change can occur.

Donators: Brian Thomas (pictured above), Hughie Samson, Britton Inglehart, Karina Prananto and other anonymous contributors. Thank you very much for your kind donation. We would really appreciate it if you could notify us in case of spelling or genre errors. Please click the Excel file for the full list.

Donators: Cassandra Seid, Rob Clark, Hughie Samson, Trevor Homeniuk, Gina Covert and other anonymous contributors. Thank you very much for your kind donation. We would really appreciate it if you could notify us in case of spelling or genre errors. Please click the Excel file for the full list.

Brian Hunter's GIC Talk review about "Artist Talk" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Written by_Seungbum Kim Editted by_Carleigh Loster For the third week of November the GIC had Brian Hunter come talk about his personal exhibition, “Carpe Nightem”. While he is originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, he frequently moved from town to town as a child because his father was in the air-force. Hunter studied Fine Arts at Concordia University in Quebec. He has shown his work extensively in Europe and Canada and 2010 marked the first time he showed his work in Asia. His lecture was divided into two parts; 20 minutes of background and history of his previous works, and 40 minutes at the Kunsthalle, where he gave a tour of his exhibition. He wanted to create a fun exhibition that celebrated creation and experimentation, and therefore chose the made-up title “Carpe Nightem” because he felt it embodied what he was trying to express in his work. It’s a take on the overly used Latin saying “Carpe Diem”, or seize the day. He wanted to create a show about seizing the night. He views the night as much more fun and mysterious, and believes that at night people become more vulnerable and open themselves up to new things and experiences. He also wanted to create a body of work that was outside of his comfort zone, so he tried to break a lot of his rules that he had previously set and let himself follow his inspiration. He wanted viewers to experience these feelings of vulnerability and exploration when they visited his exhibition. He has felt very inspired since he started making this new body of work in Korea. Accessing different kinds of materials has been difficult in Korea, and he has had to completely change his way of working as many things he previous relied on are unavailable. Since he tries to use a variety of materials in each piece, this has motivated him to try many new things and to take advantage of exploring different materials unique to Korea. There are many works that instantly attract our attention, especially on the main floor, where large, creative and unique works using interesting materials were on display. First is the large placard, on which he has wildly written across his show’s phrase, “Carpe Nightem”. For this piece, Hunter involves the viewer by giving us a glimpse of how he creates his pieces. We see that he has used a rabbit costume as a paintbrush for this piece which he then leaves lying on the floor, portraying a possibly violent aspect. Second is a pink igloo that is made of many inflatable pink mattresses. The title of this piece is “You Know Best”. The igloo has a small entrance, and only Hunter and one other visitor are allowed to experience this piece at a time. Within the igloo, the viewer sits inside a tee-pee and watches a short video. Viewers become part of the piece when they see themselves speaking in the video, even though they are only passively watching. This kind of personal interaction really engages the viewer. Lastly on the first floor are two large robotic animals, suspended in the air above single mattresses. This piece may evoke feelings of a mother and child relationship, where by the animal (mother) looks after the visitor (child) as they lie beneath. The work breaks the general notion of people playing with pets to pets playing with people. Even more was to be seen on the second floor, where Hunter exhibited three more interactive pieces and numerous 3-d paintings. The piece “Slow Push/Pushed” allowed the public to interact and influence the movements of past images of themselves, and proved to be very popular. The use of many different materials in the paintings created a sense of intrigue and curiosity in the viewer, as the materials created something almost sculptural. Overall this lecture was very enjoyable. Specifically, the greatest reward of this talk was the chance to experience many great works of art. Brian Hunter’s exhibition helped me to better understand the concept of art; that art is not always difficult, and that we can appreciate it like many other things in life if we open ourselves to it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GIC Talk volunteers write a review of the lecture in English. GIC hope this review would be useful for the people who missed the prior GIC Talk or who are interested in the lecture or getting new knowledge. Also, if you are iterested in being a volunteer or giving a lecture, please do no hesitate to contact us. Thank you so much.

Donators: Julian Warmington, Hughie Samson, Doug Stuber, Karina Prananto and other anonymous contributors. Thank you very much for your kind donation. We would really appreciate it if you could notify us in case of spelling or genre errors. Please click the Excel file for the full list.

Donators: Georgia Bryan and other anonymous contributors. Thank you very much for your kind donation. We would really appreciate it if you could notify us in case of spelling or genre errors. Please click the Excel file for the full list.

GIC Talk volunteers started wrting a review of the lecture in English. GIC hope this review would be useful for the people who missed the prior GIC Talk or who are interested in the lecture or getting a new knowledge. Also, if you are iterested in being a volunteer or giving a lecture, please do no hesitate to contact us. Thank you so much. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct. 8th GIC Talk Review Written by Keonhee KIM Edited by Hughie Samson First Nations Culture of Canada - Past to Present Oral information passed from generation to generation provides historians with a detailed description of the recent past. The language and context used in the telling of the story is vital to understanding its meaning and purpose. The analysis of similar stories from different cultures creates a historical framework for the story and its relevance within that culture. The Blackfoot elders would appoint certain individuals to remember an incident or circumstance. The elders emphasized first and foremost that people should remember the truth and not merely focus upon the pleasant or profane. Mongolian Mothers The Beringia land bridge is widely accepted as the most probable migratory route of humans into the Americas. Geologists estimate that this land bridge formed during the Wisconsin glaciation period, which began 75,000 years ago and ended approximately 14,000 years ago. Deep-sea soil cores taken from beneath the waters of the Bering Strait provide evidence that the landscape during the time of exposure would have consisted of a dry tundra plain environment. The climate might have been similar to the climate of present-day tundra or grassland plains environments, with short summers, extremely long cold winters, and perpetual winds. Remains of large mammals such as mammoth, mastodon, giant bison, and saiga antelope have been found, suggesting that the first North Americans were big game hunters. These Stone Age hunters followed the herd migrations across the Beringia plain to North America. But evidence also suggests they were foragers of sea mammals, fish, and vegetation. It is estimated that Beringia was capable of supporting fifteen to twenty-five people per 386 square miles, which is similar to the lifestyle of modern-day Inuit. Continental Migration In 1995, Deloria disputed the Beringia theory based upon his hypothesis that the ocean's water levels had to drop sixty meters in order to fully expose a land bridge. He believes that this was impossible and that the climate would have been uninhabitable for humans due to the glacial landscape. Ultimately, if Deloria is correct in his evaluation of the Beringia environment, humans must have come by a different route to the Americas.   Dene - Creation of Seasons The Dene (Dené) is an aboriginal group of First Nations who live in the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dené speak Northern Athabaskan languages. Dene is the common Athabaskan word for "people" (Sapir 1915, p. 558). The term "Dene" has two usages. More commonly, it is used narrowly to refer to the Athabaskan speakers of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada, especially including the Chipewyan, Tlicho Yellowknives Slavey, and Sahtu. But it is sometimes also used to refer to all Northern Athabaskan speakers, who are spread in a wide range all across Alaska and northern Canada. Earth Mother and "Turtle Island" Turtle Island is a term used by several Northeastern Woodland Native American tribes, especially the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy, for the continent of North America. Haida Gwaii The Raven and the First Men The great flood, which had covered the Earth for so long, had at last receded and the sand of Rose Spit lay dry. Raven walked along the sand; his eyes and ears were alert for any unusual sight or sound to break the monotony. A flash of white caught his eye and there, right at his feet, half buried in the sand, was a gigantic clamshell. He looked more closely and saw that the shell was full of little creatures cowering in terror in his enormous shadow. He leaned his great head close and with his smooth trickster's tongue, he coaxed, cajoled and coerced them to come out and play in his wonderful shiny world. These little dwellers were the original Haidas, the first humans. Bison Hide with hair: floor coverings, beds, clothing, and moccasins / Hide, no hair: soft clothing, moccasins, tepees, and baby blankets / Hide, no hair: stiff quivers, parfleches, and rigid containers / Bladders: waterproof bags / Brains and liver: product to tan leather / Stomach: cooking pots and watertight containers / Bones: scrapers, knives, awls, and arrow shafts / Rib bones: sleigh runners for children's toys / Skull: ceremonial object / Horns: cups and spoons / Sinews: bowstrings, threads, lashing cords, and ropes / Tail: fly swatter / Hair: stuffing, paintbrushes, ornaments and cords / Teeth: necklaces / Dewclaws: rattles / Hooves: glue / Dung: fuel for fires -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donators: Joshua Kane, Isabelle Byrnes, Hannah Messmann, Karina Prananto, Hughie Samson and other anonymous contributors. Thank you very much for your kind donation. We would really appreciate it if you could notify us in case of spelling or genre errors. Please click the Excel file for the full list.

Donators: James Bland, Cassidy Rice, Hughie Samson, Shannen Watson, Karina Prananto, Leigh Hellman, Peter Maddox, Anna Ocenas, Jon and Emily Reesor, Joshua Kane, Stephen Redeker, Adnan Khan, Amanda Baker, Ann Lau, Trevor Homeniuk, Lisa Geldys, Billy Cho, Lindsay Shear and other anonymous contributors. Thank you very much for your kind donation. We would really appreciate it if you could notify us in case of spelling or genre errors. Please click the Excel file for the full list.