Here's the Zein Xeno Gallery, a few blocks north of Gyeongbok Station, exit 3. This is where famous cartoonist Park Jae Dong has an exhibit on from December 21 to 30, 2009.

Jae Dong has donated his time and art to raise money for KARA. He is selling prints for around 120,000 won each. Each day at the gallery, different celebrities will be on hand as curators, accompanied by companion animals.

On December 21, KARA held the opening night for the exhibition, which was attended by Park Jae Dong and other celebrities and guests, including Ohan Sukhee (famous feminist and writer), c (famous novelist).

KARA set up a booth inside the door to sell items and provide information.

Mr. Park's artwork covered the walls. Eats were ready for the after-ceremony break. Pictured here is KARA's director Soonrye Yim, checking up on things.

Here's a close of the cake that was brought out.

Attendance was pretty good. It got even more crowded than this. People were buying prints even before things started.

Here's the man himself, Park Jae Dong, giving a talk. He's a pretty cool dude.

Part of the opening ceremony involved the signing of sponsorship contracts. Above from left to right are Jung Taechun, a representative from Gallery Zein Xeno, Park Jae Dong, Soonrye Yim, representative of the Estine Company, Gong Sunok, and the representative of Merial Korea. The placards represent their sponsorship ties.

Folk singer Park Kang Soo, who has about 4 or 5 albums out, was on hard to sing three songs. She was great and even sung an English ballad.

Park Jae Dong danced away in a world of his own.

After the songs and some formalities were over, everyone could eat, drink and mingle. It was also an opportunity to have a good look around and buy some artwork.

Below we see Park Jae Dong and a high official from the Korean Education Department.

Park Jae Dong is not just an illustrator but is also a long-time educator who is highly regarded and influencial in the field of education.

Once everyone had had something to eat, Jae Dong spent some time drawing caricatures of guests.

As the crowd thinned, some kids jumped in and got their caricatures done as well.

One of the four-legged guests.

Update, January 3, 2010:

Amazingly, a total of 350 artworks were sold through this event, with 180 artworks sold on the last day! This is a tremendous outcome. One person actually purchased 30 prints.

Thanks and gratitude must go to Park Jae Dong, to the celebrities who helped out and to all the volunteers from KARA who worked to make this event a great success.

This represents a great start to the year for KARA and it means we can do more to help animals in need.

Thanks everyone!