Exhibition captures DMZ through eyes of foreign artists

Six artists for the DMZ exhibition at the Summerset Palace Hotel in Seoul. From left are Trine Bumiler, George Rivera, Jane Mchan, Sammy lee, Sandy Lane and Woo Ju-yeon. Korea Times photo by Kang Aa-young

By Kang Aa-young

U.S.-based artists have opened an exhibition featuring the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the border that separates the two Koreas, at DMZ Museum in Goseong, Gangwon Province.

Their theme is "Liminal Space" or space between two thresholds, no doubt South and North Korea.

Six of the artists, including two Korean-Americans, are visiting. The exhibition hosts 117 pieces of art by 45 members of "Artnauts," an artists' group in the U.S., each symbolizing the conflict between the two Koreas.

"The Korean War (1950-53) is known as 'the Forgotten War.' Although Americans fought and died in this war, most Americans today know little to nothing about it," George Rivera, professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told The Korea Times on Monday, the 68th anniversary of the Korean War.

Rivera started the Artnauts in 1996 to visit places of international conflict such as Bosnia, Colombia, Mexico, and Palestine, to create a dialogue about the human condition through art.

The two sketches show Korea's leaders and depict the division between the north and south. Courtesy of Artnauts

"America is now part of the conversation in this dramatic political landscape, but when we planned the show, it was all about nuclear weapons. We never anticipated this dramatic shift in the relationship," said Woo Ju-yeon, a Korean-American professor from South Florida.

Jane McMahan, another of the six, said, "It seems sort of fast. What will actually come of this? I hope it will bring peace to North and South Korea."

Photos, drawings and paintings depict tension on the Korean Peninsula. Courtesy of Artnauts

Rivera said, "The core message of this exhibit is a new start or a change. Art by itself does not change the world, but it changes people who can change the world. It will start a dialogue for social change.

"The DMZ is not just a Korean issue. There are boarders and boundaries, wars and all other kinds of things that stop people from unifying and cooperating.

"Our mission is to make a bridge, across that space. It's space between potential, barriers. Anytime you have a barrier, you have an opportunity. We are trying to emphasize, the new beginning."

The exhibition will run through December.