August 15, 2018, 2 pm
Many thanks to the director Bernhard Draz introducing our participants to the concept, program & history of the project space and studio house MEINBLAU and to the assistant curator Jane Hwang & the project curator Julian Ott guiding us through the group exhibition “FACING NORTH KOREA – THE OBSERVATORY PROJECT” curated by Ido Shin, director of NON Berlin – Asia Contemporary Art Platform.
Exhibition Dates: August 11 – 30, 2018
Location: NON Berlin – ASIA CONTEMPORARY ART PLATFORM c/o MEINBLAU project space
Opening Hours: Thursday – Sunday, 2 – 7 PM
Address: Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin
With contributions by Biho Ryu, Jaebum Kim, Klaas Hübner, Taiyoh Mori and Seoul National University, Graduate School of Environmental Studies
“The Observatory Project deals with the DMZ, the border between North and South Koreas which has for more than sixty-five years been a shelter for nature but an isolated space for humankind.
At the DMZ border, fifteen of the observatories which have been built since the 1970s are now in service for the purpose of security-themed tourism. Originally, the observatories were built to serve the purpose of military defense, so tall as to enable easy and far-reaching observation. Lexically, they are often defined as buildings to observe celestial bodies, climate, and the like, just as they are utilized in astronomy, climatology, meteorology, geophysics, and oceanography. In recent days, their concept has extended to the space where one can view landscape in a leisurely manner.” (Excerpt from the press release by courtesy of NON Berlin & MEINBLAU e.V.)
The Observatory Project is the first of three new exhibitions of Facing North Korea by NON Berlin – Asia Contemporary Art Platform, that intend to escape from the monotonous and conventional views of media on North Korea and instead look forward to a new perspective opened by the observer’s subjective gaze.
More information on the NON BERLIN & MEINBLAU Websites.
