Children appeal to ocean conservation through their drawings.
On July 3, 2021, HUMAN IN LOVE(HIL) and the Gangwon Fishing Village Specialized Support Center installed 36 children’s drawings and murals containing the message of marine environment conservation on the pier of the Seorak Bridge in Cheongho-dong, Sokcho, Gangwon-do province!
From April 5 to May 23, 2021, the two organizations hosted a children’s drawing contest named ‘My Beloved Ocean’, targeting children aged 5 to 13 in the world, and received a total of 2,252 works. The artworks installed on the pier of the Seorak Bridge were the works of the winners of the drawing contest, higher than a participation award among the 96 award-winning works.
HIL hosted the completion ceremony of the murals and the award ceremony together. Participants of the ceremonies took part in a beach clean-up and a quiz contest on the marine environment and watched a busking performance.
My Beloved Ocean X Mr. Won-pyo HONG (Pop Artist)
The murals installed with children’s drawings are the work of Mr. Won-pyo HONG who is a famous Korean pop artist known as the Korean Keith Haring! The murals show the artist’s representative character, ‘Barabapa’, excitedly mingling with his friends such as turtles, octopuses, and whales in a clean and healthy ocean.
Seorak Bridge, where the murals were installed, is located between the East Sea and Lake Cheongcho. It is a passage for fishing boats going out to sea and is a place where many people visit to enjoy fishing, camping, sea bathing, diving, and cruise tours.
At the same time, it is also a place suffering from illegal fishing and camping garbage.
How much children love the ocean, what does the sea look like in the eyes of children, what should we do for the ocean… We hope that the drawings of children whispering in a language full of innocence and the murals containing everyone’s wishes will contribute to spreading awareness of marine pollution and marine environment conservation!
