This year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. While commemorative events are being held across the globe, the year carries particular significance in Korea as it also marks the 70th anniversary of Liberation. This exhibition was planned to commemorate August 15, 1945—the day of “Liberation,” when the nation, quite literally, “reclaimed light” after emerging from the darkness of Japanese colonial rule.

However, Liberation is not regarded here as a completed historical event, but as one that has continued to unfold over the past 70 years. This is because the wounds of national division that began with Liberation still function as existential conditions of life in Korean society, taking precedence over any other ideology or value system.

Although the exhibition addresses historical events and phenomena experienced by the generations of our parents and grandparents—such as the Korean War, industrialization, and democratization—it does not aim to present a chronological narrative of Korean modern history through visual art.

Rather, it seeks to speak about the diverse and unstable conditions of contemporary life. For us, the tragedy of Japanese colonial rule, the absurdity of the Korean War, the hopes and frustrations born of rapid economic growth, and the fervent passion for democratization are not merely events of the past, but forces that continue to exert influence or remain ongoing in the present.

Within this context, the exhibition title 《Uproarious, Heated, Inundated》 reflects both the characteristics of each historical period—presented through a tripartite structure—and the unstable nature of contemporary life itself, which resists definition by a single word. By listing three adjectival forms without a modifying noun, the title embodies the precarious condition of the present.

The exhibition is broadly structured into three sections.

The first section addresses postwar life shaped by a divided homeland, longing for lost hometowns, and separation from family members.

The second section focuses on the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the 1960s through the 1980s, as well as the struggle for democratization in an effort to overcome a negated modernity. The third and final section presents the diverse and ever-changing conditions of contemporary life in a globalized world.

The exhibition design by Choi Jeonghwa transitions from dark tones to progressively brighter and more vibrant colors. The walls are constructed from a variety of materials—including wire mesh, plywood, aluminum, and vinyl—sensory linking each space to the atmosphere of its respective period. As previously noted, because past events continue to exert strong influence on the present, the contents of the first and second sections are not confined to a completed past, but also constitute facets of contemporary life.

Moreover, looking back at the past does not mean simply recalling or restoring what no longer exists; it involves constructing a “field of memory” in which multiple, divergent memories are reconfigured from the standpoint of the present. The exhibition continuously calls attention to this process. In each section, visitors encounter multilayered voices produced by artists who directly experienced the era alongside younger artists who encountered it indirectly through records.

Particularly in the second section, popular songs and soundscapes of the period—incorporated through the work of Sung Ki-wan (singer, poet)—enable viewers to move beyond mere nostalgia and to reconstruct fragments of memory in a more spatial and multidimensional manner as they experience the exhibition.

References

• 《소란스러운, 뜨거운, 넘치는 (Uproarious, Heated, Inundated)》