REAL DMZ PROJECT 2013: Borderline
July 27–September 22, 2013
Border area near DMZ, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea
Lounge, Artsonje Center, Seoul
REAL DMZ PROJECT 2013: From the North
August 21–September 22, 2013
Artsonje Center, Seoul
Artistic Director: Sunjung Kim
We are pleased to announce the overlapping exhibitions programmed as part of this year’s REAL DMZ PROJECT, which take place in Cheorwon and Seoul, South Korea.
The REAL DMZ PROJECT 2013: Borderline opened on July 27—the sixtieth anniversary of the military cease-fire between North and South Korea—featuring works by international artists in sites located beyond the military checkpoints of the official Cheorwon Security Tour. Examining the influence that the sixty-year-old DMZ borderline has on individuals and society, the exhibition in Cheorwon presents diverse perspectives on issues surrounding division, separation and the modern history of Korea through an active engagement with this charged zone of conflict. Concurrent with this exhibition, Artsonje Center’s Lounge space in Seoul presents projects that explore the archival impulse in presentational displays that include a number of documents and historical materials relevant to the site of the demilitarized zone. Together these two exhibitions give viewers the opportunity to reflect upon various connections made across the Korean DMZ’s past, its present as well as its potential future in relation to the desire for reunification.
The REAL DMZ PROJECT 2013: From the North, opens August 22 at Artsonje Center in Seoul. This exhibition features a significant survey of photographic works by artists who were permitted to enter North Korea, projects focusing on the journeys of North Korean defectors, as well as works observing the relationships between the North and the South. As the second part of this year’s project, the exhibition in Seoul investigates the ways in which the North is viewed from inside and outside.
About the REAL DMZ PROJECT
The REAL DMZ PROJECT inaugurated its exhibition program in 2012 by engaging with a number of sites in proximity to the demilitarized zone in Cheorwon. Organized as an ongoing platform for the development and dissemination of a vast array of investigation and research, the Project expanded in 2013 to include a monthly forum titled DMZ Human Science – Cheorwon as a way to foster research into the historical and geopolitical situations in the areas adjacent to the DMZ. With dialogue taking on such an important role in the project, the humanities symposium will be held in November this year in association with the Peace Museum, featuring presentations by international researchers, ecologists and artists.
The REAL DMZ PROJECT exhibition for 2013 continues along this trajectory of engagement with the loaded history of Cheorwon county, which takes up a third of the entire length of the DMZ. Located at the center of the Korean Peninsula, this geopolitically crucial area has long played a pivotal role for ruling powers. Subsequent to Japanese occupation, it was brought under the control of the Soviet military regime before becoming the site of many horrific confrontations and battles throughout the Korean War. Following the armistice agreement, part of the province was reclaimed when the military demarcation line was drawn along the 38th parallel between North and South.
REAL DMZ PROJECT 2013: Borderline at Cheorwon
Artists: Heman Chong, Yang Ah Ham, Sejun Hwang, Jesse Jones, Yeondoo Jung, Paul Kajander, Sunkyong Kim, Koo Jeong A, Jooyoung Lee, Hein-kuhn Oh, Fahrettin Orenli, Raqs Media Collective, Suyeon Yun
REAL DMZ PROJECT 2013: Borderline at Lounge of Artsonje Center, Seoul
Artists: Alfred 23 Harth, Taehyung Kim
REAL DMZ PROJECT 2013: From the North at Artsonje Center, Seoul
Artists: Seung Woo Back, Magnus Bärtås, Chien-Chi Chang, Yang Ah Ham, Armin Linke, Hiroshi Minamishima, Suntag Noh, Park Chan-kyong, Raqs Media Collective, Sean Snyder, Suyeon Yun
For images and information:
info [at] realdmz.org
T +82 2 733 8944
