SeMA Storage’s special exhibition during the second half of the year focuses on ‘women’ and ‘graphic design.’ This exhibition looks back at the important accomplishments of women graphic designers over the past three decades, and illuminates the activities of under-represented women graphic designers. The achievements of women graphic designers have received little attention by the male-dominated approaches to historical research, especially in the field of graphic design that generally lacks documentation and discussion. Another factor in women’s work remaining anonymous is due to the social circumstances wherein which women graphic designers experience difficulties in advancing their careers beyond certain limits within particular social organizations, such as corporations and educational institutions. This exhibition is the beginning of a long-term effort to document and celebrate the activities of women graphic designers that are different from the male-centered historical perspectives and narratives, which are prevalent in the field of Korean graphic design.
The exhibition presents the major accomplishments of ninety one women graphic designers that have each made a mark in the history of Korean graphic design. Their names and achievements include the following: Nami Rhee from Studio BAF who edited and designed the women’s magazine Eve, Heesun Seo who designed the first issue of the lifestyle magazine WAY, Jimi An who runs Alma Books, Dongshin Kim who runs Dongshinsa, Hyunkyung Kim from Hongdesign and Yunjeong Ahn from Designpark, Hyewon Sohn from Crosspoint who branded Chamisul Soju, Woogyung Geel and Heesun Kim who branded the Hyundai Department Store Food Hall, Yeounjoo Park who designed the complete works of William Shakespeare from Moonji Publishing, and Jiwon Yu who designed the complete works of William Shakespeare from Minumsa Publishing.
However, this archive is still a rough and incomplete collection of works that has been gathered, as if quickly scanning the stage from front to back. The exhibition did not follow a thorough and objective standard for selecting works, thus many great women graphic designers are not yet included. In other words, this archive should be conceived as a suggestion that is open to debate and renewal, rather than a closed list like the 'hall of fame.’
The exhibition guide will be installed inside and outside of the exhibition space, even though the audience has the freedom to choose the order, means, and attitudes to view the archive. Yeounjoo Park suggests the audience’s attitude to exhibition asking to visit the exhibition space. The formless list of graphic designers is materialized into photos and installed in the exhibition space by Texture on Texture. Euddeum Yang installs the extended captions of 85 works and look beyond the work. Eunjoo Hong recovers the tendency presented by rearranging the list. Small Studio Semi shouts out the names of designers. On the one side of the exhibition hall, Woo! School recommends Feminism in the view of reading the archive. We reinterpret the archive to connect the past, present, and future of Korean women graphic designers.