◈ KF ACH Special Exhibition ◈
◾ Title: ASEAN on the Move: Transportation and Digital Lifstyle
◾ Host: The Korea Foundation
◾ Organizer: KF ASEAN Culture House
Performing Arts & Exhibition Department
◾ Support: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
◾ Cooperation: ASEAN Embassies to Korea, Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, Wild Flower Film Awards
◾ Participating Artist: Sung-jin Song, Chang-jin Lee, Bounpaul Phothyzan, Local 4 Local, Dongjoo Seo, Ken Pyun, Sohyun Kim, Soyoung Ryu, Jon Enoch, Lampu Kansanoh
◾ Collaborative Artist: Jiyeon Lee, Chang-woon Lee, Aye co (New Zero Art Village), CCCA(Cyclo Conservation and Careers Association, Cambodia)
▶ Exhibition introduction
ASEAN on the Move is a special exhibition hosted by ASEAN Culture House that spotlights modes of transportation and digital lifestyles of ASEAN member nations.
ASEAN is home to a vast array of transportation, some of which, like taxis, subways and buses, are familiar to Koreans, while others are less familiar, like the three-wheeled vehicle and Jeep/truck-renovated minibus. One element that the exhibition focuses on is the evolution of these modes of transport, which take tourists where they wish to go and are a means of livelihood for locals, through the introduction of mobile services. Long before the release of the taxi ordering app that is used by many Koreans today, in ASEAN, startups such as Grab and Gojek provided a mobile vehicle ordering service that has since grown into super apps that encompass all areas of life, including food delivery, shopping and finance. These unicorns, whose growth was fueled by mobile digital technologies, embody the vast potential of ASEAN that can be tapped into—namely, its Gen MZ citizens, who comprise a significant portion of the region’s population and are, quite literally, always online. For young Koreans and Southeast Asians, there is no question about starting the day by turning on one’s smartphone. The flip side of this coin is the digital alienation of older citizens who are unfamiliar with the latest technologies—a dark side of development that must be addressed as a global community.
This exhibition features creators from Korea and various member countries of ASEAN whose artworks, through installations, videos, photographs and VR films, portray ASEAN’s unique modes of transport as both a metaphor for migration in the global age and a cultural heritage that links the regions past to its present. There are also artworks that direct our attention to the lives of ASEAN citizens, which are changing in interesting ways due to the rise of digital mobile technologies. The exhibition’s content, which is as rich in content as in diversity of formats, offer an invaluable opportunity for visitors to reflect on the present and soon-to-arrive future of Korea and ASEAN.