REAL DMZ PROJECT 2014 The REAL DMZ PROJECT is a contemporary art project based on research conducted on the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone): the last relic of the Cold War. Having begun with a critical perspective on the ironies that surround the demilitarized zone, the REAL DMZ PROJECT has extended its parameters by experimenting not only with new productions and exhibitions but also via dialogue and discussions within the field of the humanities and social sciences. The long-term vision of the REAL DMZ PROJECT is to create a platform that not only supports a variety of research methods, but also ensures that such research is made accessible to both local and global communities. Co-curated by Sunjung Kim and Nikolaus Hirsch, the REAL DMZ PROJECT 2014 attempts to renegotiate the ideologies of peace and war, on the one side, and the realities on the ground, on the other. The impact of ideology remains omnipresent: an oppressive presence of military infrastructures such as checkpoints, fences, and guard posts; and the manifestations of peace rhetoric such as the DMZ Peace Plaza and the Cheorwon Peace Observatory. The other, often neglected truth is the DMZ’s wild natural landscape with rare species and agricultural territory cultivated by farmers in the Civilian Control Zone, an area in which civilian access is strictly regulated. The project investigates this paradoxical condition, while imagining a new, alternative reality for the Demilitarized Zone. e-flux/announcements/real-dmz-project-2014/
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 19:00:00 +0000