VISUAL ARTS
Exile Pattern is a collection of experimental art photos by photo patternist Bereket Alemayehu, a native Ethiopian who came to South Korea in 2014 and now resides in Seoul. The photographs, which were on exhibit at Urban Pluto Gallery, Seonyudo Seoul from February 2 to February 8, were taken during the 2016-18 winter months at Beyokje-dong and Chunjgu City in South Korea.
The artist says…
“Since I came to Korea in 2014, as a foreigner who was born and who grew up in a tropical country, I was badly affected by the winter weather. Nonetheless, 2016/18 winter was an amazing experience that I never thought I’d have in my life.
The winter months weren’t only filled with extreme cold and gloomy days but with colorful touches as well. Actually, the winter had its own patterns, texture, and lights and attractions.
I was really lucky to have been there as a firsthand witness to observe the winter playing with light, air, water, trees and earth in all its varieties! Just for the sake of photography, I was privileged to experiment artistically with the unique elements in different times and places to capture the patterns.
Bereket Alemayehu is an Ethiopian Photo Patternist, social activist and writer based in South Korea. He used to work at a local NGO called Music Mayday Ethiopia, which provides a platform for talented young artists in music, dance, theater and drama, photography and video, painting and graphic design. His first photograph was published in 2007 for a newspaper which was published in the U.S. for the Ethiopian Diaspora. As an activist for social change, Bereket uses photo artworks and coffee diplomacy initiative in Korea. He was one of the international artists who participated in last year’s exhibition “Coexistence: The discourse of Tradition and the Present: the Echoes of Foreigners’ hosted by Soomyung Women’s University Museum in Seoul. You can read more on the exhibition here: https://www.pressenza.com/2020/10/coexistence-the-discourse-of-tradition-and-the-present-the-echoes-of-foreigners/
You can visit the artist’s website here: www.bereketphotos.com
HireChance
This art exhibition was brought to life by our Wadiz Funding Community. HireChance provides career development opportunities for refugees, powered by the sale of specialty coffee. Since launching on World Refugee Day 2020, HireChance has developed the ‘Korean for Refugees” language program – the first online Korean language education program for refugees, and the Beredo Project – career development for the refugee art community through the funding and implementation of the Exile Pattern Exhibition. 20% of HireChance’s revenue goes directly into their refugee career development projects.
Note:
Pattern photography utilizes elements that are repeated. The repetition of lines, shapes, tones or color can create interesting images. There are photographers who use the pattern as the main subject of an image while others use it to enhance the overall composition and look of the photograph. Photographers can choose to emphasize or break the pattern to capture a great image.
