Post Tagged with: "DNSEP"

In the October 1968 the residents of Abai village in Cheonghodong, Sokcho have been traumatized by what had been the biggest tsunami in the history. About 150 houses were flooded and fishing ships were destroyed by the powerful waves.

Seorak Bridge now reconnects these two Abai villages however the town that has been the home for many who have already lost their homes in the north by ceasefire line has been divided again. The reason I cherish Abai village with such longing is because the residents’ lives and the town seem to share the same fate.

The reason I had decided to live in a town with these folks where I had no acquaintances is because I wanted to share a humble piece of my heart with them. The sense of consolation for the people who has been through the unimaginable time of our history.

Every summer Sokcho’s beaches are filled with tourists who visit the place for its famous ocean view. However the wires that divides the north and the south sea border is part of its view. The sea was one of the few pathways to the south for many refugees and thought to be the only pathway back to their hometown after the Korean War.

Conveying the sound of a river flowing, and recording the trace of passed time. Mankyung River where my steps have lead me to. Here, exist indescribable element. Could that be the identity of the place or could that be the aroused piece of memory that has been capsized in our memory?

The half built concrete bridge is the very first bridge that had a paved road in Korean history. It may sound like the bridge has some sort of honorable significance, however Japan had built this tragic bridge in order to transport the rice that were exploited from the farmers in Iksan to Kimje during the colonization period.

However once her memory is boxed in the frame of ‘Nationalism’, the human side disappears then the Nation, as a big matter will suck everything in. Perhaps that is why we as people who has been colonized with painful memory simply regard her memory as the memory of ruler or exploiter.

Despite the destructive incidents that had changed the town so much, its history didn’t end there and then. The rice had been growing in the same field and the same sound of the wind has been blowing through the rice field. The camera shutter blinks to convey the desolate sky crossing over Iksan’s plain.

There is no doubt that Shin Mi Jung is a promising young artist. But it isn’t not enough to explain her with some words ‘a promising young artist’. Certainly, there are something more wide & huge narrations in her art pieces unlike ordinary art pieces. CultureM Magazine meets the well talented artist Shin Mi Jung.