minsuk cho exhibits crow's eye view of divided korea

minsuk cho exhibits crow’s eye view of divided korea
kim il-sung square, pyongyang, 2010; photo © philipp meuser
all images courtesy of arts council korea

arts council korea has appointed minsuk cho of seoul-based practice mass studies as commissioner and curator of the korean pavilion at the 2014 venice architecture biennale. responding to the chosen topic of the national pavilions, ‘absorbing modernity: 1914-2014’, ‘crow’s eye view: the korean peninsula’ is configured around four primary themes – reconstructing life, monumental state, borders, and utopian tours.

sejong-ro, seoul, 2014; photo © kyungsub shin

the pavilion is influenced by a poem by korean architect-turned-poet yi sang (1910 – 1937) and focuses on the divided state of the korean peninsula after the second world war. rather than reproducing cliches and prejudices that obscure perceptions of the region, the display presents the architecture of north and south korea as a mechanism for generating alternative narratives that are capable of perceiving both the everyday and the monumental.

ahn sekwon, cheonggye stream’s view of seoul lights, 2004 / © ahn sekwon

the pavilion comprises work produced by architects, urbanists, poets, writers, artists, photographers, film-makers, curators and collectors – offering a diverse range of viewpoints. the pieces reference the planned and informal development of the divided countries, revealing the wide range of architectural interventions have reflected and shaped the life of the population.

architect unknown, may day stadium, pyongyang, 1989; photographer unknown
courtesy of philipp meuser and the foreign languages publishing house, pyongyang

architect unknown, kim il-sung university, pyongyang, 1946;
photo by charlie crane, kim il-sung university, 2006 © charlie crane

seok chul kim and franco mancuso, korean pavilion, venice, 1995;
photo by gabriele basilico / © gabriele basilico

girl running through kim il-sung square;
photo by chris marker, koreans, untitled #16, 1957 / courtesy of peter blum gallery, new york

kim swoo geun, sewoon sangga, seoul, 1968; photographer unknown source unknown

kim swoo geun, model of pompidou center competition proposal, 1971
courtesy of the kim swoo geun foundation

ji dong-seok, construction of may day stadium, 1988, ink painting
courtesy of the nick bonner collection, beijing

anonymous architect of the paektusan academy of architecture, silk co-operative, 2011; acrylic on paper
commissioned by nick bonner, courtesy of the nick bonner collection, beijing

yehre suh, actor map of korea, 2014
© yehre suh