Asia, The Apparatus

Since its opening in 2015, the National Asian Culture Center (ACC) has collected experimental films and video art from across Asia. One of the ACC’s ongoing commitments has been to introduce works by artists who maintain their artistic visions within an increasingly commercialized environment. Rather than acquiring works out of mere institutional obligation, the ACC pursues a timely and flexible approach. This strategy moves beyond basic preservation or screening, extending into research, restoration, and exhibition to actively revitalize these works.

Organized to mark the ACC’s 10th anniversary, Asia, The Apparatus presents selected experimental films and video artworks researched and collected by the center over the years. Through moving images—a term now widely used to describe the convergence of these two genres—the exhibition reactivates the memories and communal narratives of multiple Asias within a shared space, acknowledging their distinct identities and histories.

Asia’s modern and contemporary history has unfolded through cycles of colonization and division, revolution and development, censorship and resistance, and discrimination and exclusion. These histories have been recorded through the apparatuses of media and technology, while also being repeatedly reduced, erased, or rearranged through the apparatuses of institutions. In the context of this exhibition, the term “apparatus” extends beyond cinematic tools—such as cameras, film, projectors, and screens—to encompass the underlying structures that capture events, edit time, and reorganize memory. This dual meaning reveals the tension between what we have been allowed to see and what remains hidden.

The works in this exhibition unfold through three interrelated processes: Dictation–Representation–Rewriting. “Dictation” refers to histories written by external forces rather than in one’s own voice; “representation” is the act of calling those histories back into view; and “rewriting” involves interpreting and reconfiguring them anew.

On the first floor of the circular, panopticon-like structure, the presentation consists entirely of women’s narratives. This curatorial choice positions women’s histories—long defined by external gazes—as the starting point of “dictation,” ultimately opening the exhibition to active, self-determined voices. As visitors walk through these layered voices of Asia, they encounter spaces familiar across the region: movie theaters, train stations, dormitories, and convenience stores. These everyday sites function not merely as backdrops but as profound intersections of different times and memories.

Formed by the various apparatuses that structure the world we inhabit and traverse, Asia, The Apparatus functions as a collective workshop of communities illuminating diverse lives. It serves as a cinematic village where we can envision a better future alongside the audience.

Participating artists: Theresa Hak kyung Cha, Nguyen Trinh Thi, Han Okhi, Kim Soyoung, Maryam Tafakory, Im Go-Eun, Women With Disabilities Empathy, Kim Dong-Ryung X Park Kyoung-Tae, Ito Takashi, Cinema Gwangju, Ming Wong, Seo Won-Tae, Your Bros. Filmmaking Group, Listen To The City, Tomotosi, Yoon Choong-Geun, Bong Joon Ho, Pan Lu, Taiki Sakpisit, Kim Kyungmook, Alexander Ugay, Tiffany Sia, Adachi Masao, Hirasawa Go, Jung Jae-Hoon, Lee Kai Chung, Hong Jin-Hwon, Aprilsnow, Dj Soulscape, Jang Minseung, Mhtl

Participating designers for Poster as Cinematography: ganzilganzilganzil, Gang Moonsick, Kwon Suzin, Kim Dongshin, Kim Somi, (No-Name) Press, Noh Sungil (Sojanggak), Byul.Org (Cho Taesang/Hwang Soyoon), Min Dong-In, Park Goeun, Paeg Ganghyun, Joe Moonyoung (Tinytitan), Shin Sunah, Shin Shin, Aloud Lab., Yoon Yeonwoo (Vinylhouse Squat), Jung Yoonzoo, Choi Jisun (Sagak Press), Hoeyo

The history of korean experimental film—Expanded cinema, expanding apparatus: Kim Sooyeun, Han Minsu