Renowned Art Critic: ‘It’s a retreat away from the turmoil of the world’

Park-yeong Dowon, renowned Korean artist. (Guk-Hwan Kim/The Epoch Times)

SEOUL, South Korea—Renowned Korean artist Park-yeong Dowon watched the 11th and final show of the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) 2009 World Tour in Korea that took place at the Universal Arts Center in Seoul on Feb. 8.

He praised the show highly: “DPA performance is astonishingly good. Watching it touched me more than reading thousands of books. It is as brilliant as the five-millennium old Chinese history and culture. The dances and costumes are very mysterious. This is the first time I have seen it and it is definitely splendid. It would be a loss for anyone who has missed this show for sure because the programs are exuberant. I felt like just waking up from a dream; it is too good to be true and I find it hard to describe it with words.”

Mr. Yeong-Jae Park, better known as Park-yeong Dowon, is a recipient of the Prime Minister Yellow Badge Civilian Award for his outstanding creativity in the arts. He is the current chair of the Korean Modern Sketchers Association and has served on the evaluation board for national artistic exhibitions. He’s held solo exhibitions three times and his works have been borrowed worldwide.

The Performance Made His 40-Year Old Dream Come True

“I have experience with children’s theater and modern plays. Watching DPA tonight, made a dream that I had 40 years ago come alive—Ah! This is the lubricant that our human society needs in our everyday lives! If everyone would be able to see and feel great things such as this, this world would become a wonderful world without any evil.

“I absolutely agree with DPA’s mission to revive compassion within people. Our world should suppress the bad and encourage the good, purify everything, so each individual can become a righteous and kind person. The lyrics tell that evil things should be eliminated and compassionate things would make this world a better place. This revelation is very good.”

DPA Inspires Creative Thoughts

Mr. Park said of DPA’s presentation of each scene: “It’s a retreat away from the turmoil of the world! Deities that freely roam in heavenly kingdoms descend from above, heavenly scenes.

“Just like An Jyeon (a palace painter of the Joseon Dynasty, famous for his landscape painting and Dream in Arcadia, a painting done for An Pyeong) who drew in a state of dreaming, I wished I could draw a painting like that so I have been conjuring up ideas for my next painting while watching the show.

“I wholeheartedly welcome DPA’s performance in Korea. DPA brought everyone happiness and I am honored to be here and watch the show with others. It’s a pity that the tour in Korea ends today. Although there are difficulties, I wish the presenting organization could arrange to have more shows so more people could watch it. I believe Shen Yun’s performance next year is going to be even better and heartbreaking. I will ask as many people as I possibly can to come and watch next year’s show.”

  For more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org