WEBZINE ACC

2023 ACC Context <Walking, Wandering> is an exhibition that reflects on the meaning contained in the everyday act of walking. From the moment we take our first baby steps to the time we depend on a walking stick, we walk every day throughout our lives. Some go on a pilgrimage and some take part in a march. Walking is more than moving from one place to another. It is beyond the simple movement of our bodies.

The starting point of <Walking, Wandering> is the core theme of “urban culture” at the Asia Culture Center (ACC) in 2023 and 2024. Inside the imagination of someone envisioning a city, there might be towering skyscrapers and a sparkling skyline, as well as magnificent landmarks that come to mind. Beyond the immediate visual images, a city is composed of infrastructure that supports the diverse livelihoods of people gathered together, functioning as a system that makes their lives possible. Among them, roads play an important role as they serve as the mediator between people and objects.

If we zoom in further on the streets, we can see the walking pedestrians who form the core of the exhibition. Just as Benjamin discourse on the changing nature of walking in the newly emerged metropolis in the early 19th century through the concept of the “flâneur (stroller)”, the development of cities and their infrastructure has altered the experience of walking. Despite the rapid development of transportation systems today, which are rapidly changing movement within and around cities, it is still difficult to imagine any form of movement that does not involve walking. Walking remains an everyday and fundamental form of transportation. Recent discussions on making cities pedestrian-friendly aim to both emphasize the continued importance of walking in the lives of city residents and to restore communities and pursue a people-centered urban culture, with pedestrian rights at the center.

Historically, walking has also served as a means for certain artists to transform the city. This exhibition is indebted to the discourse of international situationists, who argue that the seemingly mundane act of walking can become an artistic practice that rethinks the order of the city. The artists who emerged in the mid-20th century, centered around Paris, employed tactics such as “dérive (drift)” and psychogeography to creatively re-contextualize and reorganize the ordered urban space through aimless wandering and exploration. Artistic endeavors that seek to bring about change by renewing walking as a tactic are central to the exhibition <Walking, Wandering>.

Below, I introduce three scenes from the submitted works and explore the meaning of walking portrayed in the exhibition. These scenes reveal the streets as the sites where someone's will unfolds through different forms of walking: marching, strolling, and pilgrimage. They depict chance encounters and dramatic transformations taking place within the events.

Regina José Galindo's <Rivers of People> shows the joy and strength of walking together with people. In the performance, over a thousand participants come together to commemorate a river that has been destroyed by violent development, waving long blue fabric like waves and chanting, "We fight for life!" "We fight for water!" "Water is not a commodity!" The most impressive thing is their facial expressions. The marching women and children with determined faces bring joy to the collective action of resisting the destruction of capitalism. Of course, when we walk side by side, our voices can resonate even louder and spread further.

Kim Bang-Ju's <Belong to No One Else: Dropped by A Crow> is composed of objects discovered while walking and the stories intertwined with them. Without any intention of reaching a specific destination, the artist encountered these objects at the end of an aimless stroll. It may not be particularly remarkable, but it occupies a corner of the street and captures the artist's gaze as something that passes by, offering its own unique story to the artist. Perhaps our walking paths are also filled with objects that hold special stories. If we are ready to enjoy the joy of discovery, rushing to arrive at the intended destination may not be important.

<The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk> is a video documenting the performance of Marina Abramović and her lover, Ulay. The two individuals, starting from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China, embark on a 90-day journey, and eventually meet at a point in the middle of the wall to exchange a brief farewell before parting ways in their respective directions. The final meeting and parting intertwine with the lives of two people who have had a long-lasting connection for 12 years, marking the end of their relationship. Taking a step forward is one's own decision, but what awaits at the end is always an unpredictable future. The writer's steadfast footsteps evoke the lives of those who walk their own journeys alone.

Sometimes, the path we walk takes us to different places than we originally intended. Perhaps what is important is still having the courage to take the next step, despite that. Rebecca Solnit, well-known for her writings on walking, emphasizes the importance of getting lost, stating the following.

“The question then is how to get lost. Never to get lost is not to live, not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction, and somewhere in the terra incognita in between lies a life of discovery.” ¹⁾

Talking about the novel experiences encountered during a journey to a destination set by oneself makes walking a metaphor of life. The initial destination may not matter. The struggles in finding a way makes all people walking in the city pedestrians and performers of life.