Van Gogh Reborn!

Chapter 294:

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294

Courage (4)

“Let’s go in.”

“I’ll go in a bit later. I like the scenery here.”

“Okay. But don’t go too far.”

I let Jang Mi-rae go in first and took in the surroundings of the Korean Pavilion.

It was not a very impressive or attractive building, but for some reason, it felt familiar to me.

It was not because I felt any affinity for Korea, like Jang Mi-rae did.

In my previous life, I had lived in the Netherlands, England, and France.

In this life, I had followed my father, mother, and grandfather to live in Korea, America, England, France, and other countries.

Maybe because I had moved around so much, I did not feel any sense of belonging to any nation.

The only reason why I was drawn to this modest building was because it was a space that artists had created and protected with their sweat.

I knew how much I had struggled to keep the yellow house in Arles.

“Hmm.”

I breathed in and out deeply.

I remembered the peaceful days I had spent with the golden wheat fields, the blue sky, and the sunflowers.

Arles was the town of hope that I had arrived at after leaving the noisy Paris.

I wanted to escape the worldly life and live in harmony with nature, and to build an artist community in the small and cute yellow house.

Although it did not end well, I thought that I had started my life as an artist when I arrived in Arles.

Perhaps the Korean Pavilion had the same meaning for the painter Baek Dong-jun.

“Grandpa.”

I went inside the building and looked for my grandfather.

“Hmm?”

“Do we need permission to put a painting here?”

“Of course. The association is in charge of this place.”

“No, I mean outside the building.”

My grandfather tilted his head.

“What do you mean?”

“I think it’s hard to find this place. I want to put a sign. A painting.”

I told him that I hoped that the people who came to the Venice Biennale would find the Korean Pavilion more easily. My grandfather chuckled.

“Well. Let me see what I can do.”

The second day of the Outcast orientation.

Baek Seol-ki was browsing the news with a nervous mind after touring the exhibition hall under construction.

She had received a phone call from Choi Gyu-seo while the corruption scandal of the Korean Art Association was breaking out.

She was too scared to answer and he did not call again, but she was anxious.

Some of the reported details were things that only insiders would know, and Choi Young-soo and Choi Gyu-seo would suspect her first.

She felt like her blood was drying up every day.

But she could not neglect the Venice Biennale either, so the stress that Baek Seol-ki was under was no joke.

‘Don’t worry about it.’

She could not undo what had already happened, and she did not want to.

‘How did I get this opportunity.’

She thought that everything would be over if she did not achieve anything at the Venice Biennale, now that she had turned her back on Choi Gyu-seo.

She doubted that she could find a new job, considering the pressure that Choi Young-soo and Choi Gyu-seo, who had almost monopolized the domestic art scene, would put on her.

She had seen many cases like that.

‘You knew it, didn’t you.’

Baek Seol-ki steeled her mind and picked up a pencil.

She had drawn over a hundred sketches after passing the Outcast, but she had not found a satisfactory composition.

She had lost her direction even more after hearing the concept of the Outcast exhibition hall at the orientation yesterday.

One hour. Two hours.

She skipped lunch and worked on her new piece until her back hurt.

It was late afternoon.

She was hungry, having not eaten anything since morning.

‘I’m hungry even in this situation.’

Baek Seol-ki looked down at her sketchbook and sighed deeply.

She decided to fill her stomach and get some fresh air, so she went outside.

She walked slowly and bought an Italian sandwich panini and a drink at a nearby store. She remembered that there was a square near the hotel where she was going to return.

She needed a break, having been under pressure mentally for a long time.

The square was filled with tourists enjoying their time.

‘They look happy.’

Baek Seol-gi looked at the square and sat down on a suitable spot on the stairs.

She emptied her mind and watched the people having fun with their sightseeing. Then she took out a panini from a paper bag.

She unwrapped it and took a big bite.

The ciabatta was tough on the outside but chewy on the inside.

Fresh tomatoes and onions crunched in her mouth, and the cheese tasted salty amid the olive oil aroma.

‘It’s delicious.’

She bit off another large piece and someone approached her.

He was a man wearing a vest with the words ‘#Enjoy RESPECT Venezia’ on it.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

"Eating food in the square is prohibited. Please put away your panini or eat it outside the square."1

“Ah.”

Baek Seol-gi was flustered.

“I’m sorry.”

She wrapped the panini back in the paper and put it in the bag. The guide nodded slightly and left.

“…”

Baek Seol-gi, who had found a brief peace, looked down at the square with disappointment and got up.

‘Should I go back?’

The clock pointed to four o’clock.

She had time left until the seminar at eight o’clock.

‘Come to think of it.’

She had plans for both morning and afternoon tomorrow, and she had to go back to Korea the day after tomorrow.

‘Should I go?’

She thought of the Korean pavilion.

She didn’t have the leisure to visit it separately, and she didn’t want to go to the Biennale opening ceremony because Choi Kyu-seo would be there.

It seemed like she wouldn’t have another chance to go.

She moved her feet toward the Castello Park.

The Castello Park was a 100,000-square-meter area that was not easy to see in a day, but the national pavilions were lined up one after another, so there was little waste of time.

However, while the Swiss, Venezuelan, Russian, and Japanese pavilions were lined up along the road.

The Korean pavilion was behind the Japanese pavilion in a wooded place that was easy to miss.

She looked at the Castello Park map and bit her tongue.

‘The graveyard of Korean writers.’

As she walked along the map, she opened her eyes wide.

There were hibiscuses blooming between the trees.

A red border in the middle of the pink petals.

It looked like blood had dripped and stained on the white petals.

She was fascinated by the calm appearance and approached the painting.

‘What is this?’

Each petal was so poignant that she felt suffocated as soon as she saw it.

‘Who did this?’

As far as she knew, there was no artist who exhibited such paintings around the Korean pavilion.

‘There too.’

She lifted her head and saw another hibiscus blooming nearby.

This time it was a white hibiscus, but the petals were stiff and strong, and the cuts were visible.

“Wow.”

A familiar exclamation was heard.

She turned her eyes to the direction of the sound and saw Go Hun drawing a hibiscus there.

“It’s totally different from what I see on TV. It’s really, really cool.”

Next to him, Ma Eun-chan, who looked different from his first impression, was admiring him.

“Oh, Baek Seol-gi writer.”

Ma Eun-chan recognized her and smiled brightly.

“Hello. …What is this?”

“Ah. I wanted to make it more noticeable because it seemed hard to find, so I’ve been drawing since this morning. It’s cool, right?”

Baek Seol-gi was confused by the explanation from Ma Eun-chan.

Choi Kyu-seo, who was in charge of the Korean pavilion, was at odds with Jang Mi-rae, and Choi Young-soo also didn’t like Go Soo-yeol.

They were in charge of it, but they wanted to make the Korean pavilion more noticeable.

She couldn’t easily agree.

“Me.”

She spoke to Go Hun.

“Yes?”

“It’s not a joint pavilion. Why do you have to do this here… No. I didn’t mean anything else. Just.”

Go Hun understood what she wanted to say and smiled softly.

“I hope it goes well. It’s a place where many people have worked hard.”

“But.”

“I don’t think that woman, Choi Kyu-seo, will come here again.”

Baek Seol-gi was puzzled.

The commissioner, the artistic director, and the writers for the Korean Pavilion had already been decided.

The Venice Biennale Organizing Committee had also officially announced that Kim Su-hyuk and Choi Kyu-seo would participate.

“They won’t let her get away with it. I trust Grandpa, Future Aunt, and Reporter Kim Ji-woo.”

Baek Seol-gi was speechless.

Unlike him, who had spent every day anxiously, Ko Hun was looking at the future.

He could do that because he firmly believed in the people he was with.

“That woman was really awful.”

Ko Hun complained as he recalled the news about Choi Young-soo and Choi Kyu-seo. Baek Seol-gi came to his senses.

He was the first person to call Choi Kyu-seo a woman.

“That’s right.”

He laughed.

[The Rose of Sharon Blooming in Front of the Korean Pavilion]

On November 23rd, an out-of-season flower bloomed in the Castello Park in Venice, Italy.

Between the trees leading to the Korean Pavilion, a red flower that seemed to have blood in it bloomed. It was the national flower of Korea, the rose of Sharon.

The painter who drew this flower, which became a hot topic on SNS, was Ko Hun, who won the runner-up prize in the Art Nouveau contest.

Ko Hun said, “The Korean Pavilion is in a secluded place, so people easily pass by it. I thought if I put up a noticeable picture, they might find it easier.”

He also added, “The Korean Pavilion is a place where painter Baek Dong-joon and many Korean writers worked hard. It is a place where the sorrow of being marginalized on the world stage lingered, but at the same time, it is also a space of hope.”

He also revealed that he was working on a promotional book with Henri Marso for the new French-Korean joint pavilion.

Ko Hun’s was made known by a French reporter who came to cover the exhibition hall of the Poor Party.

The Korean public, who were outraged by the corruption of the Art Association, reacted explosively.

└Our Hoon is awesome ㅠㅠ

└I feel the same. I hope the Korean Pavilion goes well. He’s drawing outside in this cold weather, but what are those bastards from the Association doing?

└Choi Kyu-seo and Kim Su-hyuk, those crazy bastards, lived on the Association’s support.

└[Link] [Choi Kyu-seo received 100 million won a year from the Association’s support]

└How can those people be in charge of the Korean Pavilion? Huh? Does that make sense?

└Change it right now. Those scumbags.

└Cut off the Association’s support. I don’t pay my taxes for them to use it like that.

└Hoon is really kind-hearted.

└People are taking pictures and posting them there, and the Korean writers who went with him are also drawing together.

└Where did you see that?

└Here [Link]

└Except for Go Su-yeol, Jang Mi-rae, and Ko Hun, I didn’t recognize any of the faces.

└The person on the left is Ma Eun-chan, and next to him are Baek Seol-gi and Yu Ra-im.

└It’s been three days since the corruption broke out, but the Association guys have no reaction. Is this for real? Where do I have to report this?

└Don’t disgrace the country and pick the Korean Pavilion writers again.

1)In 2018, the Venice Tourism Authority formed a order maintenance team called ‘Angels of Etiquette’ and asked them to go around the city and ask tourists to keep order.

If you sit or eat outside the designated area, you have to pay a fine.

In addition, feeding pigeons, standing on bridges, entering canals, or urinating are prohibited, and you have to walk on the right side.