Interactive Exhibition
The Road of Ramayana
25.11.2022-
Curated by Jisu Yoon

The Asia Culture Centre (ACC) has been exploring the identity and values of Asian culture by discovering and researching major epics that encapsulate an Asian worldview. As part of this effort, we have created the "Asian Story Road," consisting of six stories that trace the paths along which Asian narratives have spread. 
This Story Road showcases the richness of Asian culture through the transmission routes and transformation processes of its narratives. It is a foundational resource for creating content such as performances, exhibitions, and festivals.
The first story addressed in this exhibition is the Ramayana, which originated in India and spread throughout Southeast Asia. The Ramayana, meaning "The Life of Rama," was first composed around the 3rd century BCE and consists of seven books with 24,000 verses. It is attributed to the sage Valmiki, who narrates the adventures and love of Prince Rama, the ninth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. As an Asian classic comparable to the Western Iliad and Odyssey, the Ramayana has left its mark across Asia in various art forms, including murals and reliefs. Furthermore, the Ramayana forms a central axis of Indian literature and philosophy, profoundly influencing the histories and cultures of Southeast and South Asia. 
The exhibition comprises a media wall, an AR experience zone, and a VR kiosk. The media wall's "The Road of  Ramayana" is a media art video that reconstructs the life of Prince Rama with a modern sensibility. It expresses the love story of Rama and his wife Sita, the villainy of the demon king Ravana, and the struggles of characters striving to realise Dharma through sound and graphics, revealing why this epic has inspired literature, art, and religion across various fields. The AR experience zone allows visitors to directly engage with the critical stories of the Ramayana through augmented reality technology. The VR kiosk serves as a space to explore valuable archival materials collected by ACC since before its opening, utilising 3D graphics to present artefacts related to the Ramayana. These materials include information and symbolic architectural resources from regions where the Ramayana has spread, including India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and are conveyed to the audience through various media.
This exhibition aims to illuminate the influence of the Ramayana on the thoughts and ethics of Asian cultures. The epic serves not merely as a collection of stories but as a crucial resource for exploring the diverse identities of Asia. Visitors will gain a deeper understanding of a diverse Asia than a singular one through this experience.