transPOP: Korea Vietnam Remix

venue: ARKO Art Center, Seoul

Curators Statement

transPOP: Korea Viet Nam Remix introduces a dynamic mix of sixteen critically acclaimed artists from Korea, Viet Nam, and the United States, signaling an unprecedented engagement with the rich historic and contemporary linkages between Korea and Viet Nam. The featured artworks explore interconnections between the two countries, including the intersections of history, trauma, and contemporary popular culture. The interactions between Viet Nam and Korea span centuries but the exhibition focus lies in their shared history of a highly accelerated modernization process with militarized roots and the Cold War. During the American War in Viet Nam, the Republic of Korea was the second largest foreign military and economic presence in Viet Nam behind the United States, with over 300,000 combat forces and approximately 24,000 skilled workers in exchange for substantial U.S. aid. The financial boon from the involvement in the war played a catalytic role in the development of Korea, laying the foundation for what is now the world’s 12th largest economy. The legacy of the Cold Wars is evident in the large Korean and Vietnamese diasporic communities in the U.S. In Vietnam, this accelerated modernity is evident in the breakneck speed of current economic development, as well as its entry into the World Trade Organization.

Since the late nineties, Viet Nam and Korea has witnessed a significant development of popular culture, fostering greater cultural proximity locally and abroad. A global phenomenon known as the "Korean Wave," has popularized Korean television dramas, pop stars, music, films, and fashion through East, Southeast Asia and beyond since the new millennium. As part of a growing inter-Asian flow of pop culture, the Korean Wave has had a significant impact in Vietnam, spurring numerous joint efforts between the two countries. V-Pop, or Vietnamese pop music and film, has created an explosion of pop stars and media products in Viet Nam and overseas. These popular representations of the negotiations between modernity and tradition, in addition to burgeoning consumer culture, suggest new subjectivities. The triangulated relationship between Korea, Vietnam and the U.S. forged through war in Vietnam is also manifest in the increased cross-pollination of cultural influence and exchange.

Viet Le and Yong Soon Min

Exhibition: The exhibition features 50 works of art by a diverse mix of 16 emerging and established artists from Viet Nam and Korea and their respective diasporas in the U.S. A broad range of approaches are evident, from playful interpretations of popular culture to reflections on violence and its vestiges, to critiques of modernity, the state, and memorialization. Listening & Reading Lounge/Timeline: In the [Strong emphasis] [Emphasis] [Inserted] [Deleted] [Inline quote] [Code] [Line break] [Blockquote] [Preformated text] [Unordered list] [Ordered list] [Link] [External image] [Internal image] midst of artworks, the lounge offers a place to relax and to browse through publications that have informed the interdisciplinary project, as well as to listen to a related mix of K-pop and V-pop since the 1960s. The timeline chronicles significant events that reflect the scope of the exhibition.

Symposium: On January 18-19, 2008 ARKO will host a related interdisciplinary symposium focusing on transnational exchanges and the intersections of history, trauma, and popular culture with leading international artists, scholars and organizers connected to Korea, Australia, Japan, Viet Nam, and the U.S. We aim to facilitate creative and critical discourse, as well as extend and historicize current understandings of the transnational circuits of commerce, culture, politics, and desire. This symposium will also include a curator-led exhibition tour and a showcase of short and feature-length films from Viet Nam and its diasporas.

Residencies: Vietnamese and Vietnamese American artists including Tiffany Chung (Ho Chi Minh City), Tran Luong (Hanoi), collaborative team Lin+Lam (New York), and Ly Hoang Ly (Ho Chi Minh City) created new work for the exhibition during a summer 2007 studio residency program in Seoul hosted by Ssamzie Space with lodgings provided by Insa Art Space. These residencies further fostered international exchange.

ARTISTS: BAE Young Whan, Min Hwa CHOI Chul-Hwan, Tiffany CHUNG, Sowon KWON, Lin + Lam (Lana LIN + H. Lan Thao LAM), An-My LE, Dinh Q. LE, Sandrine LLOUQUET, LEE Yong-baek, Tran LUONG, Ly Hoang LY, Nguyen Manh HUNG, OH Yongseok, Area PARK, Sanghee SONG, Soon-Mi YOO