Samalu

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Samalu, 2011, Andreas Zingerle, Linda Kronman (kairus.org)

Samalu is an artistic installation about mountain myths from Austria and Korea. Mountainous countries like Korea and Austria have a special relationship to their mountains. In Austria wise woman called the “Salige”, with knowledge of the mountains and special powers over the weather used to help hikers in the mountains. They were also protectors over the mountains and furious towards the ones who did not respect the nature. Today the “Salige” can only be found in the mountain myths and tales. Through history in Korea the presence of the mountains has been important and the “San-shin” mountain spirits protect them. Active mountain worship still exist in Korea and this can be considered as an important cultural heritage.

“Not only is mountain-worship still “alive” in Korea,
but it is evolving new roles for itself in Korea’s twen-
ty-first century cultural and political realities. This
is a fascinating situation, the breadth and depth of
which must be explored from a full variety of per-
spectives.” (Manson, 2009)

By lifting one or several of the real fist-size stones the visitor can experience various myths from both countries and explore different mountain landscapes. Part of the research was done within the international program “Standing by – Lyrical Soul” with young korean creatives, in cooperation with Alternative Space LOOP Gallery, DUKWON Gallery, MIZY – International Youth Center and UNESCO. The workshop resulted in an exhibition at Dukwon Gallery in August 2011.

Demovideo:

Workshop and field trip with design students: Hiking Mount Inwasan, Deepening Mountain-Human Interaction, August 2011, Seoul, Korea.

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Over a month students created performances, installations and maquettes dealing with issues of 21st century mountain worship. Results from the workshop were installed at the Dukwon Gallery in Seoul.

I want to thank Prof. David Mason for his time, great green tea and support. The project was developed at National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea (thanks to Manager Hyun Ja Shin and programme Coordinator Ahyoung Baek and Yu mi Kim).

Exhibitions:

2013:
WRO MEDIAART BIENNALE, Wroclaw/Poland.
ArtsIT 2013, Milan/Italy.

2012:
SIGGRAPH ASIA, Singapore.
AR FESTIVAL, Paiju/Korea.
PLAYING ON, Seoul/Korea.
CONTEMPORARY ART RUHR, Ruhr/Germany.

2011:
Beijing Dance Academy, Artist Talk, Beijing/China.
DUKWON GALLERY, Seoul/Korea.
CLOSER&CLOSING, Seoul/Korea.