[In-depth Interview - Person] Kim Hyeong-hee, President of the Korean Disability Cultural Arts Foundation

In December 2021, she was appointed as the third president of the Korean Disability Cultural Arts Foundation (hereinafter referred to as Jangmoonwon), the youngest and the only woman with a disability to hold the position. This interview was conducted in the office of President Kim Hyeong-hee (hereinafter referred to as President Kim) on the 4th floor of the Eum Center in Daehangno, to celebrate her appointment and to inquire about her vision and goals for leading Jangmoonwon in the future.

At the time, the interview lasted for three long hours, but we did not report it. On November 29, 2023, President Kim presented Jangmoonwon's medium- and long-term mission and vision at the "Modu Art Theater."

I remember a quote from President Kim during her appointment interview that left a lasting impression on me.

“I did not come to this position because I was greedy for the title of president. When I was offered this position, I came with the goal of addressing the difficulties and challenges faced by the field of disability arts and bringing about innovative changes. I am not a figurehead president who just gives speeches at events. I want to be a 'practical president' who actively reflects the voices of the field and work hard with the staff to achieve my goals.”

From now on...

We will be running a series on President Kim's activities.

• Introduction
  President Kim Hyeong-hee is a person with a disability who has personally experienced many of the problems in the field of disability arts. She is a field activist who has led disability arts organizations, and she has transformed into a human rights advocate for people with disabilities and a disability arts activist, becoming a voice for the harsh realities of disability culture and arts.

** Life Journey
Let's take a look at President Kim's life journey through the preface of her autobiography, "A Beautiful Woman Dancing on Canvas, Kim Hyeong-hee."

I was a dancer who freely spun, jumped, and soared on stage, expressing the beautiful movements of my body. But one day, my feet stopped.
An illness that prevented my thoughts of movement from being conveyed to my body... a person with spinal cord injury and total paralysis.
The wings of my dreams were broken, and thoughts of pain, despair, sadness, and death wouldn't leave my mind. But as a person with total paralysis who couldn't even move a single finger, I couldn't even choose death.
And...
A seed of hope sprouted within my abyss, and the paintings, from the depths of my memory, of the free movements on stage, turned into dots, lines, and planes, freely dancing on a white canvas.

“The ability to express freedom of movement is a blessing of beauty.”