korean artist sublimates adopted identification into art

[Anchor]
In Paris, France, a Korean-adopted artist has prepared a special exhibition that sublimates the pain of longing and loss for his home country into art.

The main character is Lor Ba Duffle, who was introduced through [Global Korean] last year.

Let's meet Lor Ba Duffel, an artist who is exploring the identity of the Korean diaspora through art in Paris.

[Reporter]
The Marais district in Paris, France, where various art spaces are located.

An exhibition with a special story was held here, the center of French art and culture.

Twenty-five rubber shoes painted in colorful watercolors welcome visitors.

"Our adoptees left Korea for Western countries with their own rubber shoes.The 25 pairs of shoes painted in the work "

" are symbolic representations of an estimated 250,000 Korean adoptees around the world."

Works containing the life and story of a Korean adoptee who left Korea and moved abroad.

Visitors quickly fall in love with the painting.

[Blanche Valerie / France] I think it's a beautiful exhibition. It's really beautiful to express what you feel as a work of art.

[Evelyn Farkas / France: I think the writer wanted to pay tribute to the adoptees who had to leave their motherland (through today's exhibition).

The main character of this exhibition is Lor Ba Dufle, an artist adopted from Korea to France.

[Lore Ba Duffel / French adopted countryman, artist] My name is Lor Ba Duffel. I was born Park Ah-reum in Jinju, Korea. When I was adopted to France, I got the name Lor.

Born in Jinju in the summer of 1984, and adopted by a strange land, France, seven months after his birth, the artist has been painting, imagining what life he would have lived if he had lived as a Korean.

Disconnected homeland and lost family... The feelings of longing and loss stemming from the painful past were captured on canvas through various symbols such as Korean maps and rubber shoes.

[Laurent Baeduple / French adopted countryman, artist] These are the coordinates of where the Korean father was born. This is the coordinate of the hospital in Jinju, where I was born. This is the coordinate of the orphanage that my biological father's family entrusted me to about a year after I was born. I thought I lost these rubber shoes (which I was wearing when I was adopted to France) but I found them again at my parents' house a few weeks ago. I drew my shoes and wrote down my Korean name, Park Ah-reum, birth date, and adoption date together. [Starting with this work, I've completed a large painting that recreates the shoes of other adoptees.]

It was a difficult time to face my wounds, but I didn't want to deny my roots, Korea.

After a long period of pain, the writer of Lor Ba Duffle applied for the restoration of Korean nationality.

As soon as I held a Korean passport with a Korean name in my hand, I vowed to deeply engrave the identity of Koreans in my work.

[Laurent Baeduple / French adopted countryman, artist: Korean adoptees do not feel that they are Korean. I don't even deserve to say I'm Korean. People often say 'I'm not Korean' because we have never lived in Korea and can't speak Korean. After reclaiming and acquiring Korean nationality, I wanted to explore the sentiment of Koreans as a Korean diaspora in Europe.]

For adoptees who were born Korean but have never experienced life in Korea, the identity of being Korean is the subject of endless questions.

The artist's work, which constantly considers this, goes beyond personal stories to convey a message of empathy and comfort to Korean adoptees who share the same experience.

[Honan John / Korean adoptee, photographer: I really like the work. Because it's actually touching part of my story. I am also a Korean adoptee and am mixed African American. This reflects not only the writer's own story but also the adoptee's history as a whole. I think the story of the adoptee is recorded in Korean history. It's very touching.]

[Liddie Solomont / Korean-French pianist: I didn't realize it when I was young, but as time went by, I realized how precious the Korean roots were. The writer Lor probably had a hard time, like me, like all of us. But it's a great blessing to be able to express it like this.]

After successfully completing the exhibition, the artist is now preparing for another journey.

With foreign adoptees artists who share the same experience, we started a project to find lost roots through art.

[Lore Ba Dufle / French Adopted Countryman, Artist: Overseas Korean Art Project] We formed an art organization called OKAP (Overseas Korean Art Project). The title of the art project is 'The Journey'. It starts with all the writers leaving at the same time in their hometowns in Korea, where they were born. And record the process by moving to workshops and exhibition halls in other countries. It's a long-term project, but it's a very motivating task for us.]

Through this project, the artist hopes to express the trajectory of life as a Korean diaspora and share deeper empathy with the world.

[Lore Baeduple / French Adopted Countryman, Artist: (Through my work) I want to encourage artists from adoptees to embrace their stories head-on, have an inner intimacy, and draw beauty out of them.]

The artistic journey of artist Lor Baa Duffel has just begun.

I hope that the artist's challenge, which is comforting and empathizing with many Korean adoptees, will continue to cruise in the future.