Hats were once essential components of every Korean's wardrobe. During the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), hats marked the wearer's social status, cultural identity, and more. Today, as popular Korean dramas reach global audiences through streaming services, Korean men’s hats – gats – are receiving new and increased attention. In this in person program, curators and art historians Drs. Jinyoung A. Jin, Jiyeon Kim, and Vicki Sung-yeon Kwon explore the history and diversity of Korean men's hat styles, their interconnection with the social classes, identities, cultures, and masculinities within Korean society, and their place in the international art market and museum landscapes. Illustrated with examples from textiles, paintings and photographs held in the collections, our speakers delve into the stories behind the Korean men’s hat, its history in Korean society, and the radical challenges and changes it has faced in the 20th century through Japanese colonization and western influence.
This program supports the development of permanent and temporary displays in the Korea Gallery.
This program is generously supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto.
Speakers:
Dr. Jinyoung A. Jin
Jinyoung Anna Jin, Ph.D., is the Director of Asian Art and Culture at the Charles B. Wang Center at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, and serves on the community advisory board for PBS Thirteen/WLIW. Her publications include Art, War, and Exile in Modern Korea: Rethinking the Life and Work of Lee Qoede (Amsterdam University Press, 2024), Park Dae Sung: Ink Reimagined (2022), and Chaekgeori: The Power and Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screens (SUNY Press, 2017).
Jin has also produced and directed a series of educational video essays titled The Story of Modern Korean Art and Korean Art Alive. One notable entry in this series explores traditional Korean hat culture through the lens of a modern hybrid bowler hat crafted from traditional horsehair, titled Hats Make the Korean Man.
Dr. Jiyeon Kim
Dr. Jiyeon Kim was born in Seoul and earned her doctorate in Korean art history from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her past research topics include social status and artistic identity, gardens as social space, and collecting history of Korean art in U.S, museums. Her most recent research examines the transitional characteristics of art objects made in late 19th century and early 20th century Korea and their export within the art market. She has also actively worked with contemporary artists, most recently with the South Korean ink painter, Park Dae Sung, and multi-media artist, Jung Yeondoo. Jiyeon has taught Korean and Asian art courses at many universities in Korea and the U.S. including Wellesley College, Simmons University, and Brandeis University, and worked as an assistant director of Bangudae Institute of Ulsan University, South Korea, where she published a series of anthologies on Korean archaeological sites. After working as a project specialist studying the Korean archeological collection and photographs at the Peabody Essex Museum, Jiyeon is now the museum’s Curator of Korean Art. She is facilitating the development of PEM’s new Korean gallery, which is set to open in May 2025.
Dr. Vicki Sung-yeon Kwon
Dr. Vicki Sung-yeon Kwon is Associate Curator of Korean Art and Culture at Royal Ontario Museum and Assistant Professor (status-only) in the Department of Art History at University of Toronto. Kwon’s research focuses on Korean art and visual culture, in relation to global contemporary art, transnationalism, feminist activism and socially engaged art. Her recent and forthcoming publications explore feminist art activism in Korea, and her past research has been published in various journals including Korean Studies, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, and Asian Studies Review. Kwon has been active in the art scenes in Korea, Canada, and beyond. To name a few, she curated exhibitions Mass and Individual: The Archive of the Guyanese Mass Games (Arko Art Center, Seoul, 2016) and Reimagining Places: Land, Store, Home (Korean Cultural Centre Canada, Ottawa, 2023). She also coordinated various transdisciplinary exhibitions, including Immune Nations (the UNAIDS headquarters, Geneva, 2017). An award-winning educator, Kwon has taught the arts of Korea, twentieth-century art in East Asia, and art as social practice at the University of Alberta (2017–2022), and ROM’s Korean collection at the University of Toronto (2023–present).
Recorded October 29, 2024