Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo appoints his friend Noh Jung-ki as THE new head of the Daegu Art Museum

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo has chosen someone who exhibited a portrait of him last year as the new head of the Daegu Art Museum, sparking controversy.

Daegu Foundation for Culture & Arts announced on December 29 last year that it appointed Noh Jung-ki, 70, as the director of the Daegu Art Museum after a document screening and interview review by an executive recommendation committee that included external experts. Noh will serve a two-year term.

The executive recommendation committee was composed of seven members. Two members each from Daegu City and Daegu City Council, and three members from the board of directors of the Daegu Foundation for Culture & Arts were recommended, and the chairperson will be determined by election. The Daegu Foundation for Culture & Arts explained that a committee of experts in various fields conducted the screening independently.

It held a competition for the director of the Daegu Art Museum on March 7. It was confirmed that six people applied for the position, including the head of the local government's art museum and officials from the local cultural foundation. The Daegu Foundation for Culture & Art then recommended several candidates to Daegu City, and Mayor Hong chose painter Noh Jung-ki, it said.

Noh is a Daegu native who attended Yeongnam High School with Hong. He is an active artist and has served as vice president of the Daegu Art Association and as a visiting professor at Daegu Art University and Youngjin College.

He held a solo exhibition at the Daegu Art Museum from May 27 to August 20 last year after being invited to participate in the Local Artist Illumination Exhibition Series. At that time, Noh took down the abstract works that had already been on display for a week and hung "Portrait 2023," a portrait of Mayor Hong.

The work had been on display in the city hall conference room since it was painted by Noh for Mayor Hong early last year. Noh did not take it down until after the solo exhibition.

The Daegu art community has reacted furiously, calling it a local embarrassment and a step backward for the art world. One local artist said, "Even if the selection process was transparent, the result can only be seen as inappropriate," adding, "I think Mayor Hong's political judgment came into play." Another local artist said, "It is a disgrace to Daegu's art community that the artist who was on the chopping block since he included the mayor's portrait in his exhibition was appointed to the director of the art museum."

Meanwhile, Daegu Foundation for Culture & Arts also appointed Kim Jin-sang, a former spokesperson for Daegu City, to the position of head of planning and management, where he will oversee management tasks such as human resources, finance, and strategic planning alongside Noh.

"We have completed the appointment of executives with leadership and expertise, as well as integrity and morality," it said.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.