King Sejong's cultural legacy comes to life on Shinsegae Square

Shinsegae Department Store said Thursday that it will unveil media art works reinterpreting Korean cultural heritage, created in partnership with the Cultural Heritage Administration, on the media facade of Shinsegae Square at its flagship store.

Shinsegae Department Store and the Cultural Heritage Administration held the first Shinsegae Square Media Art Awards ceremony at Jungmyeongjeon Hall in Deoksugung Palace on Wednesday. Park Ju-hyeong, CEO of Shinsegae Co., and Heo Min, commissioner of the Cultural Heritage Administration, attended the event along with other officials.

A total of 168 works were submitted for the awards. Following first-round and final judging, 18 winners were selected — eight in the original category and 10 in the template category. Original works are anamorphic media art pieces running roughly 30 to 90 seconds, while template works are five-second media art pieces.

The grand prize in the original category, called Best of Square, went to "The End of Night, the Beginning of Time" by Bokbok Studio. The team was made up of Kwon Seol and Lee Ji-yun. The work draws on the "jagyeongru," a self-striking water clock built at King Sejong's order, to visually reinterpret the king's spirit of innovation.

The top prize went to "Sharing Joy With the People" by Choin, led by Choi Su-han. Merit prizes went to "The World King Sejong Opened, the Beginning of Creation" by Dokai, a team made up of Lee Jae-hyo, Baek Bae-seung, Jeong Se-hyun and Lee Sol. Another merit prize went to "The Time of Heaven, Finally Belongs to All" by Yuyurukjin, made up of Shin Yu-jin and Yu Hyun-ju.

In the template category, "Gold Seal, Engraving Sejong" by the Seongsu-dong Residents' Association, led by Sun Ha-eun, won the top prize. Merit prizes went to "Waves of Time" by Hayoung, led by Kim Ha-young, and "Looking Up to the Sky, Caring for the People" by Yoon Tae-geon. Another merit prize went to "Measuring the Rain of Heaven, Embracing the People's Hearts" by Jeon Min-ho.

Organizers designed the awards to shed new light on the value of Korea's cultural heritage through digital content and make it more accessible to the public. They also respected the creativity and artistic freedom of the participating creators as much as possible.

The winning works will be unveiled on the media facade of Shinsegae Square at the flagship store in September. Shinsegae Department Store plans to use the showcase to present Korean cultural heritage alongside K-culture more broadly. It also aims to keep promoting the values of Korean culture, including King Sejong's spirit of innovation, on the global stage.

"This was an occasion to combine the value of Korea's cultural heritage with the creativity of our creators and introduce it to the world," said Park Ju-hyeong, CEO of Shinsegae Co. "We will continue to build on Shinsegae Square's unique identity and expand it into a space that offers visitors from home and abroad a variety of attractions through K-heritage, K-pop and media art."