Jeong Kyungja graduated from the Department of Photography at Chung-Ang University (1999) and completed a master’s course at its graduate school (2007). She completed another master’s course in Contemporary Art at Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh (2011). In 2008, she held his first solo exhibition after being selected for a young artist contest by Gallery Lux.
In
celebration of the 120th anniversary of the proclamation of the Korean Empire,
Seoul Museum of Art presents the 《Historicape: 37 Seosomun-dong》 exhibition, a
collection of archives on the Seosomun Main Building.
The
Jeong-dong area including Seosomun is a historic place where the modern history
of Korea, from the Late Period of Joseon to the present, has unfolded. The
reexamination of 37 Seosomun-dong - which has transformed from the Royal
English School, Royal College, to German consulate, to Hansung District Court,
to Bureau of Land Investigation, to Gyeongseong District Court, to Supreme
Court, and finally to Seoul Museum of Art - conjures the tragic history of the
Korean empire and the disgraceful history of the Japanese colonial era to the
living present, rather than have them linger as a dark past.
Recalling
Edward Carr's classical remarks that 'history is a endless dialogue between the
present and the past', it is another pleasure of the exhibition to actively
interpret history through the works of the artists participating in this
'endless dialogue'. Through the spaces open to participation, the audiences of
the exhibition are also invited into this 'Historyscape’ that we all creating
together.
