ReflectSpace Exhibition: Beyond the River

Glendale Library, Arts & Culture and our ReflectSpace Gallery, in cooperation with the City of Gimpo, South Korea, along with the Gimpo Cultural Foundation, is proud to present “Beyond the River: Free Zone-DMZ, The City that Lost the River.” This digital exhibition is available for online viewing here from now until March 21, 2021. Curated by Monica Hye Yeon Jun, with Ara and Anahid Oshagan, “Beyond the River” reflects on borders and divisions, specifically the far-reaching impact of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea at the City of Gimpo. 

The artists featured in “Beyond the River” are Han Ho, Lee Lee Nam, Lee Tae Soo, Kim Seung Woo & Cho Doo Young, Lee Ho Jin, and Floworks. This exhibition includes photographs, paintings, videos, interviews, and mixed media artwork. 

“Beyond the River” is also held simultaneously at the Gimpo Museum of Art in Gimpo, South Korea, and is organized in cooperation with the City of Glendale, the City of Gimpo, the Gimpo Cultural Foundation, and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange. The City of Gimpo is a sister city to the City of Glendale.

Curator Monica Hye Yeon Jun states: “The City of Gimpo, located at the Han River estuary, has inherited the memory of ‘losing a river’—a dynamic and life-giving space of water. Inherited memories persist in the time-space of Korea’s modern history in two forms: ‘squares and borders.’ The memory of the square ‘plaza’ that defunded democracy still persists and continues to unfold, while the ‘border’ is...the military demarcation line, the DMZ which separates South and North Korea and extends east to west across land, rivers, and seas.

The 1953 Armistice Agreement that created the boundaries of the DMZ, treats land and waterways differently. Han River is an estuary where the sea flows in, where the north and south face each other across a waterway. In Gimpo, it was designated as a ‘Free Zone’ where civilian ships could function. It was to be controlled by the South and North, together, for civilian maritime traffic. But this never happened. 

In 2018, under a new agreement between the North and South, the estuary of the Han River was designated as a joint water use area. Can we transform our inherited memories of a space that has been closed off for 70 years to a space of peace and cooperation? 

The ‘Free Zone’--a waterway that still cannot be crossed even though civilian navigation is allowed--is an inherited memory. Artists, through their work and imagination, attempt to cross the closed and lost river. This exhibition suggests that works of art can channel and move beyond persistent generational traumas.” 

Click hereto view “Beyond the River: Free Zone-DMZ, The City that Lost the River.”