Armando Lulaj – Never, 2012, Zhang Huan – To Raise the Water Level in a Fishpond, 1997, Yang-Ah Ham – Tourism in Communism, 2005
Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
Artists: Adel Abdessemed, Lida Abdul, Phil America, Ivan Argote, Chim↑Pom, Minerva Cuevas, Chto Delat?, Cyprien Gaillard, Yang-Ah Ham, Andre Hemer, Tehching Hsieh, Zhang Huan, Jani Leinonen, Klara Liden, Armando Lulaj, Matt McCormick, Filippo Minelli,
Wang Qingsong, Andres Serrano, Manit Sriwanichpoom,
Clemens von Wedemeyer, Kacey Wong, Xijing Men, He Yunchang.
6 min
Exhibited: Tourism in Communism, 2005
Tourism in Communism was filmed in 2005, the same year Hyundai Asan announced that the one million South Korean had visited Geumgangsan, a North Korean tourist area considered sacred by many on both sides of the border. The South Korean company, Hyundai Asan, developed resorts there with permission from the North Korean government, and in 1998 began to lead tours to the only part of North Korea that South Korea’s general public could visit.
A gaudily decorated horse-drawn carriage with an enthusiastic, even exuberant, driver makes for a pleasant and amusing trip. However, the night landscape and propagandistic slogans posted along the way foreshadow actual events that were yet to come.
In 2008, a 53-year-old woman tourist, Park Wang-ja, was shot and killed by the North Korean military when she strayed into off-limit territory, and South Korea suspended all future tours. In 2010, the North Korean government seized five properties owned by South Korea, claiming it was compensation for lost revenue, and opened the area up to North Korean tour companies. Recently North Korea signed a memorandum of understanding with an American company to lead tours there as well. This film reflects a more hopeful time.
