The love story of Lee Seon-jae and Oh Hye-won of the top Korean drama series 'Secret Love Affair' continues...
This story is dedicated to the women of the world - the workers, the carers, the lovers, the artists - those with big hearts and big hug...
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By the time she had parked in an underground car-park and begun the short walk to her destination, the morning hustle and bustle of Manhattan's Meatpacking district was well under way. A quick stop-off to buy a cooling, iced latte with oat milk, along the Hudson River Greenway - already busy with cyclists, walkers, bladers, as well as strolling tourists and rushing commuters - and she was also hastening to her meeting, without much thought for the niceties of a sunny, Manhattan morning in July.
Her visitor's pass scanned, she ran her leather tote-bag - which served as a work bag and hand bag combined - through the metal scanners and then proceeded to the staff area of the museum. Such a change from the building I worked in as an intern in Greenwich Village. She recalled again how, in her early days as an intern in the Whitney Museum of American Art - or The Whitney as everyone called it - she had felt the weight of history of this prestigious bastion of American art and culture. Though that had faded slightly with time, she still felt a tinge of that awe, as she moved now from the public gallery to the private work spaces. It was a pleasant feeling to have some of the permanent members of staff greet her by name, as they passed her in the corridor on their busy work days and by the time she tapped on the door of the curator with whom she was now collaborating for the up-coming exhibition, she had completely overcome her awed feelings and felt focused on the business of the meeting.
'Hey there, Hye-won.'
As she stood and walked around her desk towards Hye-won, the gentle smile and greeting of Julie - her mentor from her interning days with whom she was now collaborating - was warming.
'Hey there yourself, Julie.'
Both women shook hands - the US style of greeting beginning to feel more natural to Hye-won now - though when she had first arrived, she had often found herself missing the universal European double or triple cheek kiss. Lifting her own coffee cup, Julie led Hye-won to the low couch on the left-side of the office where they could relax and drink their morning beverages while making a start on work. The exhibition was now just 4 weeks away and the meeting was to finalise the more detailed aspects of installation of the works in the Theodore Roosevelt estate on Long Island - Sagamore Hill - where Hye-won now worked as a part-time curator. The agreement to open the exhibition in the national historic site that had been the family estate of the 26th US president - before moving and expanding it in the spring to the Whitney - had come about, partly through Hye-won's re-connection with Julie in the Whitney but also through the long-standing connection between the two museums with their focus on American art-works. Though a small exhibition by the usual standards of the Whitney, everything was being planned with meticulous care and Hye-won felt very grateful for the support and collaboration she had received from Julie and her team. The logistics of transporting carefully chosen artefacts from all corners of the 50 states of the US and insuring all items for any and every eventuality that such transport could entail were carefully and efficiently planned, the scurries of the world outside forgotten.
