“Mistranslating Southeast Asia: the Seven Holes” Poster Image. ©AS
AS presents the exhibition “Mistranslating Southeast Asia: the Seven Holes” at 三Q in Euljiro, Seoul, through June 1. AS is a research and curatorial collective founded by Moon Hayn and Jo Hyunah. Two researchers with institutionalized art education based on Western art history attempt to rewrite the history of visual art in Southeast Asia on their own, implying that such research must continue.
Presenting the process and results of a year-long reading of ten articles summarizing artworks and art history produced in modern and contemporary Southeast Asia. The exhibition focuses on identifying “the seven holes” that embrace an art while simultaneously destroying the region and reveals the curators’ translations and reference materials.
Transposing the Chaos of ancient Chinese mythology to Southeast Asia and delving into the forces of colonialism, modernity, English, technology, religion, and assumptions that have continually punctured life and art in the area, the exhibition looks for common themes that originate in Southeast Asian art that have, until now, remained largely unexplored in the Korean art world.
In addition, the exhibition examines how Southeast Asia has been primarily perceived as a vacation destination for cheap leisure and has encountered historical turbulence, providing an opportunity to reflect on the commercialism that is ingrained within the region.
In this way, the exhibition seeks to create a network of artists and set an alternative archive for Southeast Asian art. In doing so, AS explores, in their collective misreading, contemporary art history could generate the possibility of a divergent trajectory.
