Hong Song-Dam

Hong Song-Dam (1955) was born on the South Korean island of Haui-do and grew up in Gwangju, South Korea. In his youth he worked as a studio assistant until his talent was discovered. He studied visual arts at the Chosun University in Gwangju. His time at university was overshadowed by poverty; he had to work in order support himself. He also had to deal with serious tuberculosis. When he was lying in the sanatorium with severe tuberculosis, he saw how all kinds of people who wanted to hide from the dictatorial regime of that day, found themselves a place in the hospital, alongside of people who were miserable because of bad life circumstances. He was confronted with poverty and injustice. This motivated him to join the Gwangju uprising from May 18 to May 27, 1980. He survived the bloody slaughter of the uprising by the army and wanted to do something in response. That is why he started to make art as an accusation against injustice and became part of the Minjung art movement, a popular and artistic response to these oppressive events that took the lives of an estimated 2,000 people.