Exhibition shows scars of 3,000 days of struggle on Jeju’s Gangjeong Village

Posted on : 2015-11-25 16:40 KST Modified on : 2015-11-25 16:40 KST
Construction of naval base has left some of Gangjeong Village’s natural beauty under piles of concrete rubble
A photograph of Gureombi Coast
A photograph of Gureombi Coast

In his poem “Children of Gangjeong,” Shin Kyeong-nim says that wild roses on Gureombi Coast and the wind blowing from Beom Island are the mother and father of Gangjeong. He also says that people should be proud of the mothers and fathers fighting to protect the village.

The poem reads, “I’ve traveled to various parts of the world / but I’ve never seen anywhere more beautiful than this. / Listen, children, / it’s okay to feel proud of your mothers and fathers / who are fighting to protect your village. / . . . / Look at that sea. / Do you see wild roses on Gureombi coast? / That’s your mother. / Do you feel the wind coming in from Beom Island? / That’s your father.”

It has been a long and drawn-out struggle. It is unusual in South Korea for people-centered campaigns against government projects to last so long. Established in May 2007, a committee opposing the construction of a naval base at Gangjeong Village in the city of Seogwipo on Jeju Island has continued its work for more than 3,000 days.

 Gangjeong Village
Gangjeong Village

Gangjeong Village had been a sleepy place, one that few people even on Jeju Island had ever visited. Now, though, it has become one of the best-known villages in the entire country. People from around South Korea and around the world come to the village in shows of solidarity.

An exhibition about Gangjeong called “Time: Look at That Sea,” which kicked off in Seoul and Jeju Island on Nov. 24, contains a record of those 3,000 days. It is showing in Jeju at Seogwipo Arts Center from Nov. 24-Dec. 2 and in Seoul at Yogiga Expression Gallery in Seoul's Hapjeong neighborhood from Dec. 9-12.

The Korean word in the title translated here as “time” could easily be taken to mean “enemy,” perhaps directed at the South Korean navy and government. But according to the groups that organized the event (committees representing the village, Jeju Island, and the entire country, all committed to halting construction of the base and bringing peace to the island), the word means “time,” as in the time that something happened.

 Jeju Island on a day of falling snow
Jeju Island on a day of falling snow

Time here is a symbol of the point in time when the Gureombi coastline was still paved with flat rocks. It signifies that the pictures and videos recording a time before the coastline was blasted to make way for the naval base allow us to view beauty and pain simultaneously.

The exhibition includes two sections. One section features 60 photos and videos by selected artists taken of Gangjeong Village and the underwater environment offshore from 2007 to the present. Another section serves as an archive summarizing the past nine years through pictures. The exhibition represents a number of photographers who have been on the scene to record what has happened over the past 3,000 days, including Kim Jin-su, Kim Heung-gu, No Sun-taek, Song Dong-hyo, Yang Dong-gyu Lee Woo-gi, Jo Seong-bong, and Lee Gang-in.

The photographs are snapshots of the daily struggle against construction of the naval base. They show Beom Island as seen from Moetburi Beach, near the naval base, through snow flurries; snow falling during the protest against barracks being built at the naval base; children playing on the Gureombi rocks, which are now buried beneath heaps of concrete; Gureombi after it was fenced off; mudflat crabs and other creatures that can no longer be seen on Gureombi; the demolition of the flat rocks on Gureombi; and the daily lives of the activists.

The photographs are also arranged chronologically to show how Jeju soft coral, designated as Natural Monument No. 442, and other marine life were buried during the coastal land reclamation and the construction of a breakwater.

 currently being shown in a photo exhibition called “Time: Look at That Sea”
currently being shown in a photo exhibition called “Time: Look at That Sea”

“I learned about the struggle at Gangjeong Village in 2011. I came not so much to take pictures as out of curiosity. This was the first time I had encountered activists like the ones working at Gangjeong Village. Since I wanted to get to know them, I would visit Gangjeong Village once or twice a month to record what was happening,” said Lee Woo-gi, 36, one of the photographers whose work appears in the exhibition.

“While we were looking for a project that would show a different side of Gangjeong Village, we agreed to show people what the village looked like over the past nine years. We tried to use this opportunity to draw attention to Gangjeong Village and the life that was lost, buried beneath the heaps of cement,” said Yang Dong-gyu, secretary general of the Jeju branch of the Korean People’s Art Federation (KPAF).

A photograph currently being shown in a photo exhibition called “Time: Look at That Sea”
A photograph currently being shown in a photo exhibition called “Time: Look at That Sea”

“Since Gangjeong Village was settled, there have been few times that it has endured such trauma as it has during the past nine years. While I was looking at the pictures, all of our work flashed through my mind,” said Go Kwon-il, chair of the committee opposing the naval base at Gangjeong Village.

“The photography exhibition is designed to remember the truth. All art - literature, the visual arts, and photography - bears witness to the truth and therefore helps reveal the truth,” said Mun Jeong-hyeon, a priest, during a welcome address at the opening ceremony of the exhibition on Tuesday afternoon.

By Heo Ho-joon, Jeju correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

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