Culture News

[Anchor Lead]

The first-ever museum dedicated to artworks made with pressed flowers has opened in Korea. Meanwhile, vinyl records are gaining popularity among younger music fans. Here's more from the world of culture.

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These artworks were made by drying and pressing flowers and tree bark. Even though no paints were used whatsoever, the colors and artistic value of these art pieces are on par with those of paintings. This piece featuring dried flowers and butterflies looks as if it's alive. Materials used in pressed flower art include wild flowers, grass and trees. Art pieces made with pressed flowers are like live DNA banks, as they can be preserved for a long time. Pressed samples of more than 500 floral species have been preserved so far for future generations.

[Soundbite] Chung Yeon-kwon(Gurye-gun Agricultural Devel. & Tech. Center) : "Thanks to these samples, our future generations can check the live DNA of floral species 100 or 200 years from now. These are priceless research materials that will help us understand how pollen was produced and how wild flowers grew."

An exhibition hall that specializes in artworks made with pressed flowers has been transformed recently into a museum 15 years since its opening to bolster its research and preservation functions. The museum is expected to contribute to recording the history of diverse floral species. This purple plastic record the size of a human palm contains new songs from the K-pop girl group Wonder Girls. Records these days come in various colors, such as red and yellow. They also come in various shapes. The main clientele of this large record store that opened recently are people in their 20s and 30s who had never really listened to records before. An outdoor section selling limited-edition records is also crowded with young customers. The popularity of LP records among young people represents the digital generation's desire to stand out from the crowd.

[Soundbite] Lee Seung-sang(Visitor, Age 26) : "They are pretty. Even though the quality of sound is not very good, they do have their unique charm."

[Soundbite] Kim Jun-ki(Visitor, Age 21) : "I don't have a turntable, I just collect records because I like to look at them."

Records have been changing the way people enjoy music these days - from just listening and consuming music to feeling and owning it.