WEBZINE ACC

The ACC presents Faith in Green, a special exhibition on the Peace, Culture, and Memory International Network from October 21, 2022 to February 19, 2023 in the Special Exhibition Gallery at the ACC Archive & Research.

Dates

October 21, 2022 – February 19, 2023

Time

(TUE–SUN) 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
(WED and SAT) 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
*Closed every Monday

Venue

Special Exhibition Gallery, ACC Archive & Research

For all ages

Admission

Free

No booking required

For more information, call 1899-5566

The exhibition sheds light on collective efforts among women to overcome the climate crisis in Vietnam where agriculture is the economic mainstay, under the theme “Solidarity in the Age of Climate Change.”

It features selected posters, photographs, and video clips from the collection of the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, as well as three installations of Korean artists. The exhibits are aimed at exploring several social challenges facing Vietnamese women driven by a culture of nature and goddess worship and climate change and to examine the organic relationship between man and man, and man and nature.

In particular, the interactive installations offer local artists’ creative take and reinterpretation of the exhibition theme and research data on Vietnam. They also allow visitors to understand and appreciate different perspectives on artworks with a more open mind.

Faith in Green is largely divided into two parts:

Part 1. Green Goddesses shows examples of the age-old, universal tradition of nature worship in Vietnam. Korea also has a long history of worshipping nature and its elements and religious beliefs for blessings, for example, a ritual for rain and good harvest and a stone pagoda. The exhibits provide a glimpse into Vietnam’s worship culture that is similar to Korea’s.

Overlapped Home by Cho Eun-sol

Found in the middle of Gallery 1, Cho Eun-sol’s Overlapped Home reinterprets Vietnam’s culture of goddess worship by inviting visitors to concentrate on stacking objects on top of each other. Cho believes that worship in itself is the act of looking inward. The work underpins her message that while it is important to take action to protect nature, it is equally crucial to look after one’s own physical and inner health.

While Part 1. Green Goddesses reveals traditions that remain from the past, Part 2. The Age of Climate Crisis and Solidarity showcases the present and future of Vietnam. A collection of posters and photographs looks back on Vietnam’s policy of pursuing development at the expense of the environment, the resulting natural disasters, and the nation’s efforts to overcome the crisis.

Knot & Net by Kim Ja-yi

Kim Ja-yi’s Knot & Net is an exploration into the language of rest that sits in the middle of Gallery 2. The nets hanging from the ceiling represent the complicated, organic relationship between man and nature and the artist’s attempt to discuss the intersection between rest and ecology. Each knot symbolizes the overlapping point in interactions between man and nature. Kim suggests rest as a way to find balance in life for all living organisms that are deeply connected with nature. Her two-channel video Circle creates a space of rest and meditation where visitors can feel as if they are part of nature. The calming sound of a singing bowl in the clip invites visitors to take a moment to rest their mind.

Transplanted Memories by Kim Yu-jung

In front of Galleries 1 and 2 lies Transplanted Memories, an installation by Kim Yu-jung. In an attempt to highlight the common ground between Vietnamese women and nature, Kim found objects that two Vietnamese migrant women brought with themselves when moving to Korea and covered them with Tillandsia plants. The plants far from the place of origin symbolize the lives of migrant women in a new land after being uprooted from their homes. They both display remarkable adaptability and resilience to cope with a new way of life, in a show of solidarity between man and nature.

Near the end of the exhibits, visitors are asked to write down their thoughts on the ecological crisis and share creative, actionable ideas to protect the environment. The sharing of views on the exhibition theme allows them to learn from each other, reinforcing the organizers’ hope that the show will give a platform to not only provide information, but also bring together varying perspectives and insights.

We often receive disaster alerts on mobile phones for the dwindling storage level of Dongbok Dam, limited supply of water, and water saving campaigns. Climate change or the climate crisis is no longer a distant threat. It is a reality that will have a profound impact on our everyday lives. Hopefully, the practical and joint efforts being undertaken in Vietnam to tackle climate change will inspire us to take action and make a small difference.

The exhibition will run until February 19, 2023, and further event information can be found on the ACC website (https://www.acc.go.kr/). Guided tours are available for those wanting to explore in-depth climate actions in Vietnam.

For more information, click here