Held at Lotte Gallery Incheon Terminal Store through June 21
Crossing the boundary between art and play with cardboard
Lotte Gallery Incheon Terminal Store is holding <Spanish Graphic Studio MILIMBO Special Exhibition: JUST PLAY>, a participatory exhibition that the whole family can enjoy together, through June 21.
Based in Valencia, Spain, MILIMBO is a graphic studio made up of two people: Juanjo G. Oller and his wife and teacher, Trinitat Orcina. MILIMBO got its start presenting posters and picture books at a small book fair held in Barcelona in 2007. After making cardboard toys as a birthday gift for their daughter, they went on to build a body of work that crosses the boundary between art and play using cardboard, and they are expanding their activities across Europe through exhibitions, workshops, and space installations.
This exhibition presents free-spirited works that let visitors experience the artistic world of MILIMBO, which says, “There is no set age for discovering your own joy,” transforming the exhibition hall into a playground. Highlights include ‘Phylum Fantasticum,’ in which visitors assemble cardboard modules such as heads, torsos, arms, and legs to create their own one-of-a-kind creatures found nowhere else in the world, as well as the first-ever presentation of the cardboard toy ‘Bloc City,’ reconstructed as a participatory game installation.
In addition, ‘Graphic Blocks,’ one of MILIMBO’s signature games in which imaginative images are completed through play using 25 paper blocks (5×5×5㎝), lets visitors freely arrange the patterns on each face to create their own results. Beyond these works completed through the active participation of the audience, 10 posters offering a glimpse into the artists’ graphic world, along with more than 20 toys, games, and books, are on display, extending an experience connected to the exhibition.
At Ateli-el, a large game space embodying MILIMBO’s philosophy—that everyone can enjoy play, from children to adults, and anyone can become an artist without set methods or rules—has been set up, where visitors can take part in play at any time. In addition, ‘Jungling,’ which also marks the beginning of MILIMBO’s cardboard module works, is reconstructed into a graphic wall about 15m long. In this space, visitors can discover MILIMBO’s distinctively simple shapes, patterns, and characters; these symbolic expressions from artists who wanted to pioneer a realm of communication without words are set to stimulate the audience’s imagination.
Visitors to the exhibition hall are provided with a cardboard envelope kit for completing their own character using stickers, and they can keep their finished work. In addition, a selection of MILIMBO’s signature posters, books, toys, and games has been curated and will be sold exclusively during the exhibition. 032-242-2987