9th seminar – Eunyoung Chae (curator/director of Space Imsi)

Culture-art curator Eun-young Chae’s practice stems from “trans-locality,” an untranslatable compound word with a hyphen that lingers and drips as if it were some sticky liquid. I agree with her opinion that “trans-locality,” transcending the boundary between regions, can only occur at points where the past and the present, space and place, and connection and relationship blur. Chae has been using the phrase “Hanyang contemporary” as a metaphor for the contorted space and time between Seoul and Incheon or other cities. One anthropologist, refrains from using the word gukje—a common Korean translation for the English word, “international”—due to its connections to Japanese imperial language. The anthropologist suggests that the concept of “interlocal,” that challenges the dichotomy of center and periphery, should instead be translated as bangje, meaning “between regions.”*
Foreign, individual entities mutually cross each other in the very place where the body exists. We perceive the external world through bodily senses, and the knowledge we gain from this experience fuels our imagination of a common, fictional world. This is the reason Chae, who reconstructs absence and deficiency to envision a different topography, created the fictional Incheon Museum of Art through research and discussions. In her work, a Chinese character used for the word “museum” (gwan), literally meaning “building,” is replaced with a homophone meaning “world.” 

* Chun Kyung-soo, “Interlocal Symbiosis, Coexisting and Forming Ties between Regions,” Transmission and Exchange, Asia Culture Center, 2018.

– Miji Lee (DCW 2022)

As idealistic as it would be, it is difficult to form a bond with others while practicing the theories and formalities described in the history of art within the real space and time of one’s life. In order to produce meaningful results in the place and community one belongs to, there must be endless verbal and non-verbal communication with others. Rather than raising our voices outside the large system built by capital, I believe that we can create a resonance by taking small actions at the crossroads while being aware of the institution-centered structure and movement. I agree with Eunyoung Chae’s thoughts that “we must be clear about our desires and purposes.” I also believe that such precise understanding must accompany all activities, rather than be limited to art. During the seminar, I was able to examine the concept of existing systems from multiple perspectives and pay closer attention to how a curator might experiment with the possibilities found therein. Studies conducted to understand linguistic or structural power gave a glimpse into diverse viewpoints as well as the power that results from narratives shared with other communities. I hope to advance by collecting these moments of brilliant energy in daily life and work. 

– Min Ah Lee (DCW 2022)

Seoul and other regions. The center and the periphery. How are individual cities expressing their own desires in this dichotomous ecosystem that has no middle ground? When curators say they are working “outside of Seoul,” their practices are regarded as a movement to build an alternative ecosystem outside the already existing one. Chae insists that we should not position curators outside the system since curators in principle, must maintain a healthy relationship with the capital within it. And the curators working in regions other than Seoul are not excluded from this rule. The curators are given the task of discovering a region’s “locality,” as if every region has its own specific character—something that cannot be found in Seoul. The name “Incheon” brings to mind an open port city, “Busan,” a marine city, and “Ulsan,” an industrial city. How dull are the images of exhibitions shaped by the city’s visions? 
Any attempt to rearrange the multiple cultures of a city into one lump reveals a desire to conquer that region and destroy any of its unique characteristics. Instead of defining a region’s characteristics, we should examine how artists use the place they are based in and analyze its structure in order to understand the region and related communities. 

– Minjoo Lee (DCW 2022)