Kim Hyun Jung x Café Ogada

One who has endured a whole year well deserves a small celebration of their own. Sometimes, a party for oneself is the warmest comfort of all. Naesoong: No Party Like a Patty Party began with the artist’s wish to give herself a small gift as the year drew to a close. She transformed red beans — traditionally eaten at the winter solstice to ward off ill fortune — into a sweet dessert ‘patty party’ (a pun on pat, the Korean word for red bean), reimagining an old custom in a present-day form. We tend to carefully mark other people’s milestones while too easily passing over the time we ourselves have endured. A grand celebration is not always necessary — sometimes it is enough to simply eat something we love and let our guard down for a moment. The ‘patty party’ in this work is a small, sweet, year-end comfort offered to oneself for a job well done.