Seoul Museum of Art will remain open during the March 1st holiday, offering free entry to all exhibits. The Seosomun Main Building and its three branches (Seoul Museum of Art Buk-Seoul Museum, Seoul Museum of Art Nam-Seoul Museum, and Nam June Paik Memorial Hall) will be operational, allowing visitors to freely enjoy the exhibitions.
At the Seosomun Main Building, a large-scale solo exhibition by artist Seunghwan Kim, titled “Ua a‘o ‘ia ‘o ia e ia,” is being held. This exhibition explores the lives and independence movement of Korean immigrants who moved from the Korean Empire period through Hawaii to the United States. It highlights figures such as Lee Hye-ryeon, the wife of independence activist Dosan Ahn Chang-ho and head of the Daehan Women’s Patriotic Association, her eldest son An Philip, Korean traditional dancer Bae Han-ra who spread the culture in Hawaii, Korean-American sculptor Hyun-Pul, and the grassroots film production team Na Maka o ka Aina active in Hawaii.
Seunghwan Kim has been working on unpacking the structural issues of modern and contemporary Korean history through personal experiences and shared memories. He has held solo exhibitions at major international museums, including the Tate Modern in the UK, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, and the Van Abbemuseum in the Netherlands. This exhibition is centered on his ‘Pyoharok’ series, which he has been researching since 2017.
The installation titled “Body Complex” (2024) on the second floor of the exhibition reconstructs the lives of immigrants who have made Hawaii their home from the early 20th century to the present, presenting Hawaii as a giant map. The photo series “Activated Photo Frames” (2022) juxtaposes photographs by Ed Greavey documenting the Hawaiian cultural movement of the 1970s with writings by Hawaiian independence activist Haunani-Kay Trask, illustrating the revival of Hawaiian culture nearly erased under American colonial rule.
The exhibition also features the poem “Huli” (1979) by Hawaiian poet and translator Wayne Kaumualii Westlake, highlighting the Hawaiian cultural revival movement. The term ‘Huli’ means ‘to return’ or ‘to overturn’ in Hawaiian, and was a slogan used in the 1970s Hawaiian sovereignty movement. Kim presents this alongside Korean translations such as ‘overturn,’ ‘community,’ ‘locality,’ and ‘new beginning,’ emphasizing the voices of oppressed communities throughout history.
From February 28th, a workshop led by Seunghwan Kim will commence, where creators dedicated to Hawaiian culture and traditions will visit Seoul to collaborate with the audience in creating artworks. Key participants include Drew Kahuainia Broderick, a major figure from the ‘Pyoharok’ series, Hawaiian grassroots film team Kekai Wahi, and Hawaiian translator Ahukiniakealohanui Fuertes. This workshop will run for about a month, culminating in a presentation of the results on March 25th.
Seunghwan Kim stated, “Hawaii is a metaphor for understanding our history,” adding, “I wanted to show that the cultural sovereignty movements in Hawaii can connect with Korea’s civic movements like the March 1st Movement, Donghak Peasant Revolution, and the April 19 Revolution.”
This exhibition is expected to provide a meaningful opportunity to multilayered interpretations of historical events and to rediscover the stories of forgotten individuals in commemoration of the March 1st Movement. It will continue until March 30, 2025, with more details available on the Seoul Museum of Art’s website and social media.