Gyeonggi
Museum of Modern Art (Director: Ahn Meehee) presents the special exhibition 《The Pearl Diver》 in collaboration with the
4·16 Foundation (Chairman: Kim Jeongheon). This exhibition was planned to mark
the 7th anniversary of the Sewol Ferry Disaster and aims to reflect deeply on
the various disasters experienced by our community and to offer comfort for the
sacrifices and sorrow they have brought. The exhibition features a total of 13
works by 9 artists (or collectives) active in Korean contemporary art.
《The Pearl Diver》 begins with the intention
of rethinking the process of mourning and the way it has concluded in the wake
of disaster, while offering a renewed perspective on our community and everyday
life. The countless disasters we experience—and the resulting sense of loss and
grief—do not disappear with time but remain with us. Art, through material and
action, can depict the many forms of this sorrow. This process becomes an act
of deep empathy with the pain of others, as well as a powerful form of solidarity
and testimony.
The
title 《The Pearl Diver》 is
taken from an essay written by Hannah Arendt in mourning of Walter Benjamin.
The term "pearl diver" refers to Benjamin’s deep mode of thought and
also carries the hope that memories of the past will endure over time and may
one day be retrieved for future meaning. Through this exhibition, the museum
hopes art can serve both as a consolation for grief and as a testimony to the
past, while inviting us all to contemplate the meaning of disasters and
sacrifices experienced by our shared community.
Major
works in the exhibition include Park Sunmin’s A Line Drawn and Erased,
a performance in which the artist draws lines with salt on the former site of
the Sewol joint memorial altar and then erases them—an attempt to explore the
form and materiality of grief. Unmake Lab presents Ground Memorial,
a performance conducted on April 17 in which they discover and paint black the
traces of the erased altar site on the asphalt of the parking lot, raising
questions about how we mourn and what remains afterward.
As
an outdoor sculpture exhibition, 《The Pearl Diver》 primarily features newly
commissioned works produced for the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art. Mix and Fix,
a collective of five sculptors, introduces Waiting Every Day,
which incorporates “water”—a material once considered impossible in
sculpture—as a key element. Artist Lee Soyo presents a new work titled Colophony,
a sculptural installation made from pine resin. Architect Choi Jinyoung has
designed Pavilion Wit We, installed on the front lawn of the
museum, overlooking the site of the former memorial altar. This structure seeks
to transform the space into a meaningful place for unending remembrance,
testimony, and renewed promise.
Participating Artists
Keem Jiyoung, Mix and Fix (Koo Jaehoe, Shin Ikkyun, Kwon Donghyun, Yum Chulho,
Choi Joowon), Park Daham, Park Sunmin, Bae Hyungkyung, Unmake Lab, Lee Soyo,
Choi Jinyoung, Choi Pyeonggon (Total 14 participants / 9 teams)
