[Instagram Walk] Gallery Dim - Food Waste Transformed into Dessert

Opened in Mullae-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
A complex cultural space combining a boutique, showroom, and workshop
Gathering food ingredients to make desserts
Introducing new products from eco-friendly startups
Lectures on climate crisis and resource circulation education
Zero waste experience classes also held
A sustainable life to see, hear, create, and eat

Props of Gallery Dim / Photo by Juhyung Lim skepped@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] We are truly in the era of climate change. In the United States, a winter hurricane strikes suddenly, while in Brazil and Malaysia, unseasonal heavy rains pour down, causing a series of abnormal weather events. The ones helplessly suffering from these damages are ordinary citizens. This is why leaders of global advanced countries gather in one place to discuss eco-friendly policies. Hence, the emphasis on 'zero waste,' a circular industry that reduces waste output to zero. It is a movement to suppress waste emissions alongside efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, it is by no means easy for a highly urbanized human society to carry out production and consumption activities without generating any waste.

Still, we cannot give up on eco-friendly ecosystem movements to protect the Earth just because it is difficult. We visited Gallery Dim, a 'zero waste edit shop' and 'Hwasil (化室)' that widely promotes zero waste projects and personally teaches children, who will lead future generations, the possibility of sustainable living, to see how they strive to practice zero waste.

Gallery Dim opened in November 2020 in Mullae-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a kind of complex cultural space that carries out various activities related to zero waste projects. It is a workshop that collects byproducts from food production processes to create new desserts, as well as a 'showroom' that introduces or sells new products from eco-friendly startups. It also serves as a lecture hall for education related to the climate crisis and resource circulation, and offers one-day classes where children can personally experience the process of making zero waste products.

Gallery Dim's studio view / Photo by Juhyung Lim skepped@

Kim Ju-yeon, the director in charge of operations, said, "Although it has been over a year since we opened, many people still ask, 'What exactly is this place?'" Nevertheless, the ever-changing charm of Gallery Dim, which is both a small goods store, showroom, and workshop, is also a personal pride of Director Kim.

Director Kim said she first conceived Gallery Dim during the time when remote work and homeschooling were becoming widespread due to COVID-19. It was meant as a 'platform' where children, who had to stay indoors without freely playing outside, and workers who suddenly experienced career breaks, could share their difficulties and simultaneously engage in productive activities.

Moreover, after attending a lecture on resource circulation she happened to come across at the time, she resolved to create an organization that could present sustainability across various fields. Director Kim said, "At first, I started the workspace with designer Kim Kyung-mi, but as we prepared, I thought it would be better for children to gain learning through experience rather than relying solely on theoretical knowledge. Later, we incorporated art activities into cooking and baking that children and their mothers could do together, eventually transforming into the current space called Gallery Dim."

One-day classes involving children are also held. / Photo by Gallery Dim

The workspace at Gallery Dim is called 'Hwasil.' It is notable that it uses the character 化 (hwa), meaning 'to transform,' rather than 畵 (hwa), which means 'painting' or 'artist's workshop.' Director Kim explains Hwasil as "a space where we create as we imagine." The raw materials that turn imagination into tangible creations are leftover ingredients from making other foods such as bread, chocolate, and marshmallows. By adding edible coloring, these byproducts, which might otherwise be treated as mere food waste, transform into beautiful desserts.

Hwasil is a workspace and a place where new products are born, as well as a venue where parents and children can make desserts together and experience the zero waste lifestyle firsthand. Parents' feedback has been positive. Director Kim said, "Usually, art classes inadvertently produce various kinds of waste, and the 'artworks' children make eventually end up being thrown away as trash. But in our classes, everything is seen, heard, made, and then eaten at home, so nothing is left behind." Many appreciate this aspect the most. Through Gallery Dim's activities, entire families get to experience the joy of 'sustainable living.'

Director Kim emphasizes that to truly achieve a sustainable society, individual qualities and capabilities are important, but more importantly, it is essential to lead changes in corporations that have a huge impact. For this reason, Gallery Dim promotes various resource circulation products and goods available on the market to consumers. Only when eco-friendly products made without leaving excess waste are actively commercialized and gain popularity can a zero waste society be realized.

Director Kim says, "The environment does not simply mean the natural environment." If what surrounds us externally is the natural environment, inside human society there is the 'human environment.' It is an environment created by the close connections among individuals, families, organizations, and corporations. Only when these two environments operate harmoniously can we truly discuss a sustainable environment. This is a promising aspect of Gallery Dim's role, which envisions a 'win-win platform' connecting all children and adults, individuals and organizations, and corporations within the theme of 'environment.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.