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Jieun (June) Kim is bringing an artistic sense of her hometown to our hometown.

The South Korean artist will unveil a mural she created over four days at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Friday, the opening night of “Summer of Seoul,” a film series featuring some of the best known auteurs of New Korean Cinema. The event will also feature live Korean music, art and food.

“I was born and raised in Seoul. For my whole life, the city has been my playground. I used pastel colours as a way to highlight the full sensory experience I had while I lived in the city. I am excited to share my fond memories of Seoul with TIFF audiences in Toronto,” Kim said.

“The night view of Seoul is really amazing, really bright, a lot of neon signs. So I tried to capture that in my mural,” she added.

A lifelong artist, Kim only began doing murals when she came to Toronto in late 2016 to live with her husband after the couple had to decide which city to make their permanent home.

“Canada is definitely my inspiration for me being a mural artist. Everything was new to me when I moved here. And then I saw all of the bright murals in the back alleys along Queen Street (West) and that inspired me a lot,” Kim said.

TIFF recently launched a public art initiative for the Bell Lightbox and Kim’s mural is its first commissioned work after two pop-up exhibits in the Lightbox’s gallery space earlier this year.

“It’s a portfolio that was developed internally to bring different kinds of artists and creators into the building to connect with the film programming that we’ve always done,” said O. Naphtali, co-ordinator of public spaces, audience and community.

Naphtali said the idea is to turn the Lightbox into “a kind of hangout space” for filmgoers.

The public art program is intended “make our space more welcoming and a celebration of (the cinematic) experience so that (audiences) feel welcome and see themselves at TIFF Bell Lightbox outside of the movie theatre aspect,” Naphtali said.

“Summer of Seoul,” part of TIFF Cinematheque’s year-round programming, features the early works of director Park Chan-wook, who won best director at the Cannes Film Festival in May for his latest film, “Decision to Leave,” as well as Lee Chang-dong and Bong Joon-ho, whose “Parasite” won the Best Picture Oscar in 2020, as well as other filmmakers.

South Korea has made an outsize splash in the world of international cinema in recent years, said Anita Lee, chief programming officer at TIFF.

“South Korean storytellers have captured the international imagination, working across traditional notions of genre, breaking form and attracting audiences worldwide. It could not be a more perfect moment for TIFF to bring ‘Summer of Seoul’ to Toronto audiences,” Lee said.

Kim said she’s surprised how well known South Korean cinema is known internationally.

“We’re a small country, but we’ve been through a lot. All the emotions and stories that melt into the cinema is there for people to see and I’m very proud of it.

“When I was living in Korea, I really didn’t think that Korean culture would be this popular around the world. I really didn’t see that coming. It’s very special,” Kim said.

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