‘Emily in Paris’ Star Ashley Park Simply Debuted an Exhibit Devoted to Korean American Heritage—Right here’s What to Know

Earlier than actress Ashley Park jetted off to Paris and Rome to star as Emily in Paris’ Mindy Chen, she was a New Yorker for a decade, and infrequently carried out on Broadway—most notably, she earned a Tony nomination for the function of Gretchen Weiner in “Imply Ladies.” However regardless of her international success on stage and display, she admits there was at all times a cultural disconnect in her life.

“Rising up as a Korean American, I separated my Korean life from being American,” the 34-year-old star informed Journey + Leisure. “My Korean heritage was at church, by my grandma’s cooking, or at residence, and it usually felt like I couldn’t be American if I had that in my life.”

However now she’s returned to New York Metropolis, proudly showcasing her roots whereas debuting a brand new immersive set up,“Chroma: Tales Between Hues,” on the Genesis Home, a Korean cultural hub with a restaurant, teahouse, and cellar stage alongside a showroom of automobiles from Hyundai’s luxurious automobile model.

Leaning on Park’s knack for storytelling, the exhibit consists of six installations impressed by Korean folklore and the obangsaek (the standard Korean shade spectrum) of blue, pink, yellow, white, and black.

“What I really like about Korean folklore is the morals of honesty and empathy,” she mentioned. “I actually affiliate it with my grandma and my dad and mom as a result of they raised me with these morals.”

Whereas audiences could also be most accustomed to her transferring rendition of “La Vie en Rose” from the primary season of Emily in Paris and her Grammy-nominated efficiency on “The King and I” soundtrack, the primary music Park remembers listening to from her personal childhood are Korean people songs, which had been usually paired with conventional folktales.

By the method of curating the exhibition, she feels she was capable of join along with her tradition much more deeply. “Genesis Home was so nice at having me mirror alone relationship with Korean heritage and determine what sure colours evoke for me and what reminiscences these have for me,” Park mentioned. “I discovered that the extra particular one thing is, the extra common it may be, as a result of all of us really feel the identical issues.” 

As visitors step into the exhibit, they’re given a information to assist them navigate by the colours, beginning with black and white, which symbolize vulnerability and resilience. They then step right into a yellow world (representing integrity) that was impressed by the fable, “Gold Axe, Silver Axe.” Subsequent comes the pink world of unconditional love from the folktale, “Cowherd and the Weaver Woman,” about two cosmic lovers who reunite annually. 

Transferring by the set up, visitors are then enveloped by the blue hues of empathy that element the story of the “Hare’s Liver.” In a closing, emotional exhibition, the 5 colours come collectively, which demonstrates the concord of the hues—and the world we reside in. 

“I am hoping that every one folks, whether or not they perceive sure languages or not, are leaving with the identical sort of sense of reflection,” she mentioned. 

To Park, along with having the ability to discover all of the complicated themes in her exhibit, having all of it happen in the midst of Manhattan additionally felt very vital to her.

“We’re within the mecca of every little thing on this lovely constructing, and never solely am I capable of share my Korean tradition, but it surely’s in such a contemporary, contemporary approach,” she mentioned. “They’re taking such a futuristic and imaginative approach of expressing the tradition that’s accessible to everybody … It’s the alternative of what I—and possibly many people have been doing—rising up and making an attempt to cover our tradition. Not solely are we sharing it, we’re making it welcome.”

After the pop-up exhibit, visitors can take a look at Genesis Home’s on-site restaurant, which spotlights Korean delicacies—a beloved (and scrumptious) fixture of Park’s early life.

“My grandma’s an unimaginable cook dinner and we’d at all times have some kind of stew, like seolleong tang or doenjang jjigae,” she mentioned. One dish that’s significantly significant to her is miyeok guk, a seaweed soup historically eaten by ladies after childbirth. When she battled most cancers as a teen, she had the soup fairly a bit. “I ate a number of miyeok guk once I had leukemia, as a result of it is actually good for anemia,” she mentioned.

Today, she usually craves bibimbap and kimchi, and he or she loves that the latter will be discovered all over the place—she hopes to quickly learn to make them herself. “I used to be truly simply speaking to my grandma at present about how I would like to start out studying to be assured in making the meals,” she mentioned.

Nonetheless on her agenda as properly: a correct go to to Korea. “I would like to have the ability to go for some time—hopefully someday,” she mentioned.

However for now, she’s simply proud to share this slice of her heritage with the world. “I’ve by no means seen something like this, with floor-to-ceiling LED lights, your total being is embodied on this present,” she mentioned. “There’s a relentless motion and tempo in New York Metropolis, however the time you spend down there’s a time of reflection—I don’t assume New Yorkers give themselves the time to assume and really feel.” 

“Chroma: Tales Between Hues” is free and open to the general public from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays by Sundays. It is going to be on exhibit till Dec. 14, and is situated on the cellar stage of the Genesis Home at 40 tenth Avenue within the Meatpacking District.