Bishop White Committee: Friends of East Asia
The Big Chill – Environmental Crisis and Artistic Production in Korea

Name: The Big Chill – Environmental Crisis and Artistic Production in Korea
Start: 2025-05-12T18:30:00-0400
End: 2025-05-12T21:30:00-0400
Location: Royal Ontario Museum

Date

Monday, May 12, 2025 18:30

Registration Opens

Friday, Apr 4, 2025 10:00

Location

Level B1,

Eaton Theatre

Admission

Public: $60.00 Member: $55.00

Audience

Adults

White Porcelain Jar 백자 호, Korea, early 20th century, 983.146.6.

Date

Monday, May 12, 2025 18:30

Registration Opens

Friday, Apr 4, 2025 10:00

Location

Level B1,

Eaton Theatre

Admission

Public: $60.00 Member: $55.00

Audience

Adults

How has climate change influenced the art and culture of Korea? Join us for a fascinating evening as key scholars discuss the complex correlation between climate change and aesthetics during Korea’s Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), illustrated with treasures from the Korean collections at ROM.

The Little Ice Age (late 14th to 19th century) was a period of catastrophic global climate change. It caused failed harvests, famines, and epidemics all over the Northern Hemisphere, including Canada and Korea. Its impact in Korea was felt most acutely in the 18th century, and led to dramatic changes in visual and material culture that are still felt today.

The presentation will be followed by Korean-inspired refreshments and a performance by Haneum, a Korean musical group in the Samuel Currelly Gallery on Level 1.

This program is generously funded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. Presented by the Bishop White Committee: Friends of East Asia.

Speakers

Dr. Sooa Im McCormick

Dr. Sooa Im McCormick holds a PhD from the University of Kansas, and is currently the Korea Foundation Curator of Korean Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Her curatorial projects include Immersive Korea: Hiking into the Seven Jeweled Mountain (2024) and Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution (2024). “The Politics of Frugality: Environmental Crisis and Eighteenth-Century Korean Visual Culture,” Forces of Nature: New Perspectives on Korean Environments (Cornell University Press, 2023) is one of her recent publications. She is currently working on an exhibition, Ten Kings of Hell and Afterlife in Medieval Korea (2026).

Dr. Soren Brothers

Dr. Soren Brothers is the Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change at ROM. He is also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Soren’s research examines the effects of climate change on lakes, and how changes in aquatic systems can influence their greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. He is leading a Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network initiative to improve understanding of the widespread greenhouse gas impacts of desiccation.

Dr. Vicki Sung-yeon Kwon

Dr. Vicki Sung-yeon Kwon is Associate Curator of Korean Art & Culture at ROM. Prior to joining the Museum, she was a postdoctoral fellow of the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University, and a SSHRC doctoral fellow in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Alberta, where she received her PhD degree. Her research has been published in journals including Korean Studies and Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. Since 2023, she has taught a course on the Korean collections at ROM in the Department of Art History at the University of Toronto.

Performance

Haneum

Haneum is a dynamic Korean fusion band blending traditional Korean music with contemporary jazz. Composed of skilled musicians trained in both genres, the group crafts a unique sound that embodies the cultural duality of its Korean-Canadian members.

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