Department of Fashion Design ZERO FOOTPRINT Exhibition

ZERO FOOTPRINT: Fashion Design Department X Patagonia Korea Collaboration Project Exhibition The Department of Fashion Design presents the outcomes of its Zero-Waste Fashion Capstone Design course through an exhibition in collaboration with Patagonia Korea. As part of this industry-academic partnership, students worked with unsold garments provided by Patagonia Korea and reimagined them through creative upcycling approaches. In this project, students critically examined the environmental challenges facing the fashion industry and explored the potential of responsible design in depth. Their work reflects a sustained inquiry into how design practice can respond to ecological urgency while maintaining aesthetic and functional innovation. To minimize fabric waste, each designer developed experimental zero-waste construction techniques based on modular cutting, subtraction cutting, traditional costume pattern systems, weaving, folding, draping, tailoring, and the use of off-cuts. Under the guiding concept of “ZERO FOOTPRINT”—referring to the goal of minimizing the environmental impact of fashion—the students investigate processes that bring textile waste as close to zero as possible, documenting both experimentation and practice. Professor Eunhyuk Im, who supervised the project, noted that visitors will be able to observe not only the final garments but also the full design process. This includes ideation, research, motif development, material exploration, pattern making, prototyping, fitting, lookbooks, and portfolio development, presented through physical archives and documentary film. Venue: Seongkyun Gallery, 1st Floor, Business Building, Humanities and Social Sciences Campus Date & Time: June 8 | 17:00 (Opening), June 9–10 | 10:00–20:00

Professor Lee Kyung-sung, [Newsis] “A Wall We Could Hardly Even Look At”: Nine Korean Productions Invited to the Avignon

“A Wall We Could Hardly Even Look At”: Nine Korean Productions Invited to the Avignon Festival Readings inspired by Han Kang’s We Do Not Part, pansori, dance and experimental theater to take the stage in France Festival director says selections were chosen to represent “a portrait of Korean performing arts in 2026” Nine Korean productions have been officially invited to the 80th Avignon Festival. Pictured clockwise from top left are Kim Jang-ho, President of the Korea Arts Management Service; director Lee In-bo; SPAF Artistic Director Choi Seok-gyu; director Lee Jin-yeop; pansori performer Lee Jaram; and director Lee Kyung-sung. (Photo courtesy of the Korea Arts Management Service) “I still can’t believe we’re going to the official IN program at the Avignon Festival.” So said renowned sorikkun (traditional Korean vocalist) Lee Jaram during a press conference held on May 21 at Art Korea Lab in Seoul’s Jongno District, reflecting on her invitation to the official section of the 80th Avignon Festival. Recalling her earlier experience participating in the festival’s OFF program with a creative pansori production, Lee said she and fellow artists would often wonder when Korean productions might one day reach the festival’s main stage. “My friends and I talked every day about whether we would ever make it into the IN program,” she said. “I don’t know whether Korean arts and culture have finally taken a significant step forward, or whether I’ve simply grown as an artist, but it feels overwhelming in the best way.” Founded in 1947, the Avignon Festival is widely regarded as one of the world’s largest and most influential performing arts festivals. This year’s festival, which runs from July 4 to 25 across Avignon, France, has designated Korean as its Guest Language — a special program highlighting the art and culture of a particular linguistic community. As part of the initiative, nine Korean productions have been officially invited, marking the first large-scale official invitation of Korean works to the festival in 28 years. Among the featured works is a staged reading inspired by Han Kang’s novel We Do Not Part, which won both the Nobel Prize in Literature and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The production will be presented at the Vatican Honor Theater venue. Lee Jaram will also perform Snow, Snow, Snow, a creative pansori adaptation of a short story by Leo Tolstoy. Other invited productions include playwright Koo Ja-ha’s Cuckoo and The History of Korean Theater; Haribo Kimchi; Matter, an interactive performance by the company Elephants Laugh; Island Story by Creative VaQi, which explores the legacy of the Jeju 4·3 uprising; and Giin: Yeonhui Deconstruction Project I by Hur Project, a work addressing the climate crisis through contemporary performance. Participating artists described the invitation as both surreal and historic. Choreographer Hur Sung-im of Hur Project said, “Avignon felt like an unimaginable wall — something we could neither cross nor even look toward. Simply standing at the center of the global festival scene feels deeply moving.” Director Lee Jin-yeop of Elephants Laugh added, “It still doesn’t feel real. We’ve already begun hearing from international festivals abroad, and I’m starting to understand the significance and weight of this stage.” The Korean-language focus program grew out of a 2023 visit to the Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) by Avignon Festival Artistic Director Tiago Rodrigues. Since then, the Korea Arts Management Service and SPAF have collaborated with the Avignon Festival to develop this year’s program. SPAF Artistic Director Choi Seok-gyu said the primary goal was to connect contemporary Korean art with international audiences. “We wanted to go beyond simply presenting productions,” Choi said. “Our focus was on introducing both the works and the artists in a deeper and more meaningful way.” Tiago Rodrigues, Artistic Director of the Avignon Festival. (Photo courtesy of the Avignon Festival) In a video interview shown during the press conference, Rodrigues said the most striking aspect of Korean performing arts was the way tradition continues to evolve in contemporary forms. “Korean tradition is deeply rooted,” he said, “but what fascinated me was that it does not remain a simple reproduction of the past. Instead, it continues to expand through contemporary artistic language.” Rodrigues explained that the central criterion for selecting the invited productions was whether they could collectively represent “a portrait of Korean performing arts in 2026.” “This was not about introducing isolated works,” he said. “It was an attempt to show what kinds of questions, sensibilities and energies define Korean performing arts today.” Indeed, many of the invited productions reinterpret Korean history, social realities and traditional aesthetics through a distinctly contemporary lens. Director Lee Kyung-sung, whose work Island Story is set against the backdrop of the Jeju 4·3 tragedy, emphasized the resilience embedded in the story. “The Jeju 4·3 incident is undoubtedly painful history,” Lee said. “But for more than 70 years, our community has endured and persevered in order to bring these stories into the open. I cannot speak lightly of healing or reconciliation, but I do believe we have demonstrated remarkable resilience through that process. That is what I hope the performance will ultimately illuminate.” Nine Korean productions have been officially invited to the 80th Avignon Festival. Participants share their thoughts during a press conference held on May 21 at Art Korea Lab in Jongno District, Seoul. (Photo courtesy of the Korea Arts Management Service) Organizers also noted that the program could serve as an important stepping stone for expanding the international presence and distribution networks of Korean performing arts. Korea Arts Management Service President Kim Jang-ho said the initiative aims to foster long-term international collaboration rather than one-time overseas appearances. “We intend to build sustainable systems of exchange and distribution,” Kim said, “through continued partnerships between Korean and international artists, as well as with overseas theaters and festivals.”

Theatre Alumnus Jin Misong Wins Second Prize in La Cinef Section at Cannes Film Festival

Theatre Alumnus Jin Misong Wins Second Prize in La Cinef Section at Cannes Film Festival Jin Misong, an alumnus of the Department of Theatre (Class of 2016), has won the Second Prize in the La Cinef section at the 79th Cannes Film Festival for the short film Silent Voices. La Cinef is the Cannes Film Festival’s official competition section dedicated to showcasing short and mid-length films made by students at film schools around the world. This year, 19 films from 15 countries were selected from a total of 2,750 submissions. In an interview held on May 21 (local time) at the La Cinef Lounge inside the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, Jin reflected on the achievement. “For directors invited to La Cinef, the ultimate goal is to make their first feature film,” Jin said. “Being invited and receiving this award will become both a major source of motivation and a valuable opportunity for my future work.” Silent Voices is a 17-minute short film that follows a day in the life of a Korean immigrant family of four living in New York City. Through the stories of a father who left his parents behind in Korea, a mother who abandoned her dreams, and two daughters grappling with their own anxieties and uncertainties, the film delicately portrays the loneliness and emotional fractures experienced by immigrant families. Explaining the inspiration behind the project, Jin said, “After moving from Korea to New York, I often experienced subtle feelings of distance and moments of intimidation in everyday life. Since New York is home to so many immigrants, I realized there were many people who shared similar emotions, and I wanted to express those experiences through film.” Jin is currently pursuing an MFA in Film at Columbia University and plans to prepare a new project in Korea after completing the graduate program. “I want to continue telling stories about my generation,” Jin said. “Although many young people today have grown up in relatively comfortable environments, they often feel lost and uncertain about their direction in life. I hope to portray those experiences honestly through my films.”

Professor Jung July, Department of Film, [Kukmin Ilbo] ‘Dora’ Receives Enthusiastic Standing Ovation at Cannes Film Fest

July Jung’s ‘Dora’ Receives Enthusiastic Standing Ovation at Cannes Film Festival Japanese actress Sakura Ando performs lines in Korean Director July Jung’s film Dora, invited to the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, received an enthusiastic standing ovation from the Cannes audience. Dora made its world premiere on May 17 (local time) at the Croisette Theatre in Cannes, France. As soon as the screening ended, the audience erupted into a prolonged standing ovation. Jung, who returned to Cannes for the third time following her debut feature A Girl at My Door (2014), selected for Un Certain Regard, and Next Sohee (2022), which closed the Critics’ Week section, expressed her emotion, saying, “It feels like a dream to meet audiences with a film that was completed just a week ago.” The film follows Dora (Kim Doyeon), a high school senior suffering from an unexplained illness, who leaves Seoul with her family and moves to a seaside village, where she encounters and forms relationships with new neighbors, including Nami (Sakura Ando). The story is a contemporary reinterpretation of Sigmund Freud’s well-known case study “Dora,” reimagined from a female perspective. The film conveys a message of healing for the younger generation. Speaking to Korean reporters in Cannes on May 19, Jung explained, “I made this film with the hope that Dora, starting from a vulnerable and painful state, would eventually rise as someone fully recovered.” She added, “I wanted audiences to observe Dora as if gradually approaching her. I also hoped that each viewer would be left with their own lingering image of Dora and Nami.” Sakura Ando, who plays Nami—a Japanese woman married to a Korean man and living in Korea—has won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Actress three times. She revealed that she initially hesitated to join the project due to concerns such as performing in Korean, but said, “Through Dora, I realized that acting goes beyond language,” adding, “I hope to participate in more films not only in Korea but also in other countries in the future.”