Ahae

April 2014: A ship sinks in South Korea, killing nearly 300 people. 2013: A Korean amateur photographer exhibits in Versailles. August 1987: 32 members of the Korean Odaeyang sect are found dead. The link between these facts? It was Bernard Hasquenoph who discovered it. Intrigued by the success of Ahae, the pseudonym of the amateur photographer, he leads the investigation and is the first to reveal the true identity of the Korean artist, billionaire and patron of the arts, entrepreneur and guru, with a vast and well-established network of influence. And the further he investigated, the more obscure and unbelievable the revelations became. Through the portrait of one man, we plunge into a mafia world with unexpected ramifications, such as international cultural patronage, which brings into question the value of art and the probity of those in charge of it. Bernard Hasquenoph is a journalist and creator of the museum blog Louvre pour tous. He campaigns for wider access to culture and denounces the commercial drift of public cultural institutions.