The Embassy of Switzerland in Korea will present SOIL, an exhibition exploring the connection between humans and the Earth. The exhibition examines the interplay between nature, food, and human creativity through Korean temple cuisine. It is based on the book Jeongkwan Snim - Her Korean Temple Cuisine, published by the Swiss publishing house Echtzeit, with texts by author Hoo Nam Seelmann and photographs by Véronique Hoegger. The exhibition highlights the deep ties between Switzerland and Korea by uniting Swiss book design with Korean culture’s intrinsic connection to nature, and thus speaks a universal language. The exhibition is curated by Chelsea Jihong Park, Shinyoung Bahc, and Yesul Jang who studied at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne.
The exhibition also ties into the embassy’s “Soil Stories” science program, which focuses on academic exchanges and was conceived in collaboration with the global network Swissnex for the Planet. It explores the reciprocal and multifaceted relationship between humans and soil, focusing on food security, environmental conservation, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture.
SOIL will span both indoor and outdoor spaces of the Embassy. The exterior walls will showcase large-scale food photography reminiscent of abstract paintings, while the courtyard will feature images of Jeongkwan Snim’s daily life, captured by Véronique Hoegger during her extended stay at Cheonji-nam Temple. These photographs depict the harvesting of homegrown vegetables and the careful preparation of meals, illustrating how temple food evolves with the seasons and embodies nature’s cycles. Indoor, a large circular table measuring 7 x 3.6 meters will symbolize the cycle of nature, displaying grains, vegetables, fermented foods, and traditional temple cooking tools for visitors to explore. The exhibition will take place from April 6th to 17th at the Embassy of Switzerland in Songwol-dong Jongno-gu Seoul. Admission is by reservation only, and registration details can be found on the Embassy’s Instagram (@swisshanok).
On Monday April 7th at 3:30 p.m., a book talk will be held with Jeongkwan Snim, writer Hoo Nam Seelmann and photographer Véronique Hoegger. The discussion will cover the book’s concept and creation process, and the deep connection between temple cuisine and nature. Following its original Swiss publication by Echtzeit, the book has now been published in Korean.
