LA:ON – Celebrating Korean Culture in Los Angeles
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The Global K-Zone “LA:ON” officially opened Oct. 9 with a Hanbok fashion show and AI media art, followed by a Hangeul Day celebration on Oct. 10, with “Beauty & Fashion,” “Text-Hip” and “K-Supermarket” pop-ups continuing through December
Most museum visits come with an unspoken rule: look, don’t touch. At the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles, that rule is being quietly retired.
On Oct. 9, the center opened Global K-Zone “LA:ON,” a new experiential space spread across the ground floors of KCCLA and the neighboring Korea Center on Wilshire Boulevard. The idea is simple and a little uncommon for a cultural institution: instead of walking past Korean heritage behind glass, visitors are invited to sit down with it, work with it and, in some cases, take it home.
“LA:ON is designed so that visitors do more than simply see Korean culture - they can experience it and bring that experience into their everyday lives,” said Haedon Lee, director of the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles. “Tradition lives on here in the style of modern life,” he added.
Chris Devlin of the Greater Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce called the center a neighborhood asset. “The Korean Cultural Center is an important part of the community, and we are excited to see this new space bring even more energy, creativity, and cultural exchange to the neighborhood,” he said.
A Lounge Built Around a Creative Culture
The heart of the KCCLA exhibit is an experiential lounge devoted to Hanji, Hangeul, Hanbok and contemporary craft. Its Hangeul section, developed with the National Hangeul Museum in Seoul, walks visitors through the history and design logic of the Korean alphabet - a writing system created in the 15th century and built on deliberate principles of shape and sound - through digital content, typography and media art. In addition, Hanji, the traditional paper made from mulberry bark, turns up as unique lighting alongside contemporary craft pieces. The pairing makes an argument the whole space returns to: traditional Korean materials are not museum relics but working elements in modern design.
Hanbok on the Runway
Friday’s opening night centered on a Hanbok fashion show presented with the Korea Craft & Design Foundation (KCDF). Fourteen looks - marrying traditional Hanbok and newly developed contemporary designs - were staged with eye-popping coordinating visuals and AI media art, tracing how Korea’s national dress continues to move through fashion and visual culture. Paired models trod the catwalk in the Korea Center, delighting audiences with colorful garb, headwear and footwear, and then came together for a finale walk that drew uproarious applause from the guests.
The celebration carried into Oct. 10 with a Hangeul Day program hosted with the U.S. regional office of the King Sejong Institute Foundation: a K-pop lyrics dictation competition, a Korean culture quiz, Korean-language poetry recitation, Hanbok try-ons and traditional games.
Brenda Lee, director of the LA Art Show said, “I believe spaces like this are very important because it creates opportunity for artists, designers, audiences and communities to discover one another and build new relationships.”
A Rotating K-Lifestyle Space Next Door
Where the KCCLA lounge is the permanent anchor, the Korea Center is built to change. Through December it will host a run of seasonal K-lifestyle pop-ups, each with participating brands whose product information visitors can pull up by scanning QR codes.
First up from Oct. 13-17, is K-Culture Pop-up “Beauty & Fashion” produced with Lotte Department Store. It is followed by LA:ON Season 1, “Text-Hip” (Oct. 27-Nov. 14), a turn toward the printed and illustrated word with webtoons, typography, art books and participatory programs. Season 2, “K-Supermarket” (Nov. 24-Dec. 12), closes the year with K-food, contemporary craft and everyday Korean lifestyle goods.
Culture as a Front Door
LA:ON is part of Global K-Zone, an initiative of Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that remixes and reimagines what overseas Korean cultural centers can be. Rather than presenting culture and commerce as separate worlds, the program links cultural exchange with Korea’s contemporary lifestyle industries, so that interest sparked by a calligraphy station or a Hanbok fitting can lead to Korean design, food and brands.
Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Korean communities outside Korea, is a natural testing ground. The center sits on Wilshire Boulevard just west of Koreatown, at a moment when Korean film, music, food and beauty are already part of the city’s daily vocabulary.
“We are opening the door to allow a new way to experience Korea here in Los Angeles,” concluded Lee.
If You Go
Global K-Zone “LA:ON”
When: Oct. 9-Dec. 12
Where: Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles & Korea Center, 5505 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Cost: Free, though some programs require advance registration
