Artsonje’s Chung wins Montblanc

Chung Hee-ja, right, founder of Artsonje Center speaks at a press conference Wednesday. / Coutesy of Working P Company

Chung Hee-ja, founder of Artsonje Center, was honored in Seoul Wednesday as the Korean recipient of this year’s Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award.

The 72-year-old was recognized for her contributions in promoting Korean contemporary art and film. She is the wife of Kim Woo-choong, founder of now-disbanded Daewoo Group.

Chung was a senior executive in the hospitality industry at the Millennium Seoul Hilton and hotels in Vietnam and China in the 1990s. Her interest in contemporary art began when she needed pieces to decorate her hotels.

“I thought I had to return the profits from the hotel business to society. I became interested in art and wanted to help young artists who have talent,” Chung said at a press conference Wednesday.

She established the Artsonje Museum — the first private contemporary art museum in Korea — in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province in 1991. She introduced modern masters such as Alexander Calder, Fernando Botero and Yayoi Kusama.

In 1998, she founded the Artsonje Center in Seoul, dedicated to cutting-edge contemporary art and run by her daughter, curator Kim Sun-jung. The center has helped many Korean artists, including Lee Bul, Suh Do-ho and Chung Seo-young, take their work overseas.

“At first we had differences in our views on art. Maybe it was because of a generation gap — when I was active in the art world, there were mostly paintings but contemporary art has a wider range. I try to learn about and understand contemporary art,” Chung said.

She has also supported the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) since its founding in 1996.

Chung will receive the “Patron of Art Edition” Montblanc fountain pen and prize money of 15,000 euros to give to an art program of her choice. The money will be donated to the BIFF organizing committee. Montblanc issues yearly limited edition pens for “Patrons of Art” and this year’s pen design was inspired by Austria’s Emperor Joseph II, who gave his support to Mozart.

James Siano, president and CEO of Montblanc Asia Pacific, emphasized the significance of the Arts Patronage Award.

“This award is not given to artists but patrons and I hope other people step up to support artists,” Siano said. He added that Korea is becoming more recognized in the art world, but more support is needed for Korean artists to go further.

It has been 21 years since the Arts Patronage Award was established and Korea was included eight years ago. Previous Korean recipients include CEO of Crown-Haitai Confectionary Yoon Young-dal for his support for traditional Korean music; Kyobo Life Insurance and Daesan Foundation Chairman Shin Chang-jae for his support for literary works; and SeAH Steel Chairman and founding chief director of the Korea National Opera Lee Woon-hyung. Chung is the first female Korean winner of the Montblanc award. <The Korea Times/Kwon Mee-yoo>

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