Since 2015, the National Museum
of Modern and Contemporary Art has been introducing the works of major video
artists in Asia through the Asian Film and Video Art Forum and hosting artist
talks and discussions related to the event. From September 4 (Wed) to September
6 (Fri), 2024, the 4th edition of Asian Film and Video Art Forum will be held
at the MMCA Film and Video in Seoul—5 artist talks and a discussion with 5 curators in the same region.
Following the forum, the films by
Asian film and video artists are presented to the audience from October 11 to
November 27. The 5 films of the 10 years project are shown as well. Initiated
in 2015 with 10 Years: Hongkong, 10 Years: Thailand, 10 Years:Taiwan, and 10
Years :Myanmar will be screened.
For the last few years under the
pandemic, we couldn't be away from home. Our daily lives were strongly
influenced by the "border," "nationality," and "the
nation." It was an opportunity to realize how much the government controlled
or supported our basic lives. We also realized how much we are interrelated
with other societies and countries. We go abroad—temporarily or longer—for various reasons—to study, to work, and to reunite with friends or family.
On the
other hand, some people had to leave their home country against their own wills
to be drafted into the army in the wartime or to support family as always. They
lost their homes and suffered from discrimination and hatred; sometimes they
settled down in the unfamiliar land. While allocating limited resources such as
vaccines and masks, there happened screening and exclusion between nationals
and immigrants, then hatred toward the strangers and harsh discrimination were
followed.
In society after the pandemic,
how could we deal with the nationality and identity in this multi-national
society? There have been people who have multiple cultural backgrounds from the
past. Once they were considered to be "in-between" and were doubting
their identity, they were sometimes requested to choose one of them. To define
one's national identity more inclusively, we need a more multi-layered
approach. For the upcoming generation, we could find that they are refraining
from their own identity. They put themselves in a wider context instead of one.
You can find works that deal with
various situations, such as colonial rule and independence, migration for
labor, and the identity and conflict of the generation following migration, and
hear the stories of the artists of the works.
This forum will open a dialogue
with these works on the relationship between an individual and his/her country,
on the aftermath of war, and on the discrimination due to nationality.
Artists in the forum
Sejin Kim(South Korea), Yuri An(South
Korea), HSU Chia-Wei(Taiwan), Churayarnnon Siriphol(Thailand), TANAKA
Koki(Japan)
