I am delighted and honoured to participate in this upcoming exhibition ‘JustWomen’ in Paris, 27-28-29 May 2022, as part of ImageNationParis 2022 at Galerie Joseph. http://www.justwomen.gallery
The show is part of ImageNation international photo exhibitions in Paris, Milan and Los Angeles – http://www.imagenation.paris
“Just Women invites you to discover a beautiful and powerful collection of images capturing how young women photographers perceive the world. With styles ranging from art photography to documentary, portraiture to fashion, 32 international women photographers pushed the boundaries of their comfort zone to explore new visual perspectives, shaping visions through their female gaze.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HEAL FROM SOCIETAL TRAUMA? QUALITY YARD STUDIOS PRESENTS A LIVE PARTICIPATORY ART EVENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3rd, 2020
On the anniversary of South Korea’s Independence Day, 15 August, a group of artists and a writer from Scotland and Ireland have been invited by Edinburgh-based, Korean-born visual artist Sejin Moon (MFA in Photography) to make a series of live installations that reference a sculpture located in the city of Busan, South Korea honouring the “comfort women” of World War II.
The live installations will take place over most of the day on Saturday, 15 August in Leith, outside the artist studios in Quality Yard. Visitors will be invited to witness artists in the process of creating a response to the statue, including artists sitting as the statue as a durational performance, a black and white mural, a collage “wall of comfort”, printmaking on scarves and other soft fabrics, video projection, performance of writing, and a final photographic self-portrait by Moon herself.
The idea is that the work will respond to trauma and wish victims of abuse healing, recovery, and hope for the future. Much of Moon’s artwork since she graduated from Edinburgh College of Art has addressed gender inequality and societal power struggle.
Also called Sonyeosang, the bronze statue in Busan which the performances will reference was installed in 2017 and has caused international controversy. Depicting a life-sized girl in traditional dress and bare feet sitting on a chair, the statue commemorated the experience of “comfort women” – a euphemism for as many as 200,000 women across the Asia Pacific region forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army from the 1930s to the end of World War II.
“I see the story of the “comfort women” not just as long-gone history but as something that is still today echoed in everyday life events for many women” she said, “due to the horrifically commonplace nature of sexual violence.”
“I am compelled by the writing of the groundbreaking American psychiatrist Dr Judith Herman, and her work on trauma and recovery,” Moon continued. “She claimed that communities draw a “veil of oblivion” over painful memories of war and its victims, often silencing survivors of great suffering in order to forget.”
“It is important to acknowledge the facts of history. Healing is vital to move one’s life forward. This focus helps me to navigate a way through my own trauma.”
The artists – including Lauren McLaughlin, Zoe Atherfold, Andy Cumming, Sylwia Kowalczyk, and Louise Omer – intend to commemorate the normalisation of rape in wartime, centre the frequency of female sexual slavery, bring attention to official silencing of women’s history, and look towards what it means to rebuild. How to heal the trauma of the past, in our bodies and in our worlds? What reparations must be made to recognise women’s history? Can war exist without rape? Can we rebuild a society that does not depend upon violence against women’s bodies?
Please contact for more information:
Sejin (main contact) – sejinmoon@hotmail.com David Organ (Quality Yard Studios) – davidorganuk@gmail.com
SEJIN MOON 