SEULKI KI, KIM WOOJIN, SEJIN SONG, RYU BIHO

Much like how familiar landscapes can sometimes feel strangely unfamiliar, this exhibition begins with events that occur while everyone is asleep, the existence of things on the opposite side of what we see, and things that are as elusive and invisible as ghosts.

Co-hosted by the Seoul Museum of Art and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the SeMA×KCC Touring Exhibition Far, Far Side of the World presents contemporary Korean art under the theme of ‘Connection,’ the Seoul Museum of Art’s institutional agenda for 2024, at Korean Cultural Centers in major East Asian cities, including Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Osaka. The exhibition aims to present visual interpretations and understandings that vary according to the historical and geographical characteristics of each city, thereby creating new meanings shaped by different backgrounds for the audiences in each location.

Living in the age of hyperconnectivity, we can receive news from the other side of the world anytime, anywhere. However, this also fosters the arrogance and illusion that we can grasp and understand everything. This exhibition invites us to perceive and sense the events occurring on the other side of the world we routinely imagine, through the works of four artists who explore various boundaries such as nation and ethnicity, individual and society, life and death.

RYU Biho metaphorically illuminates the world beyond our visible reality, which remains hidden despite its proximity to our own. Sejin Song exposes the inevitable grand narratives and the vulnerabilities of individuals in relation to society. Seulki Ki questions and challenges our perceptions of the external world by using familiar landscapes and objects as her subjects. Woojin Kim highlights the digitalized landscape of contemporary society and the vanishing languages of minority groups through research-based works.

Through the works of these four artists, Far, Far Side of the World weaves alternative narratives about marginalized existences, inviting us to explore and understand the complex and multilayered world. The narrative that begins in Seoul will travel through Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Osaka, returning to Seoul to paint new landscapes in the time of 2024.