Founded in 2012 by curator Sunjung Kim, director of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and Art Sonje Center, Real DMZ Project is an ongoing contemporary art project focusing on research on the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea. Engaging with this unique and complex territory, the artists present recent works through various disciplines: painting, photography, installation, video sculpture. They use, in their creations, the most diverse materials (even plants harvested in the DMZ zone), confronting their sensibilities, perceptions and realities of the divided Korean peninsula.

Placed in this context and taking place within the framework of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, the exhibition will be held in Paris at both the Korean Cultural Center and the Fiminco Foundation. These two presentations are designed to be reflected as mirrors, like the two Koreas facing each other on the border of the 38th parallel. The exhibition at the Fiminco Foundation will show works revealing the “created reality” that the two Koreas have built in order to maintain their current status, as well as the paradox of the Demilitarized Zone which, despite its name, remains under the control of heavily armed military. As for the exhibition at the Korean Cultural Center, it will present works that revolve around the hypothetical scenario of a future era of peace, encompassing themes such as landscapes and villages, or relating to an environment that is both military and natural. Both exhibitions will offer an artistic vision linking the past, present and future of the DMZ.

Artists participating: Kyungah HAM, H-Sang SEUNG, Kyung jin ZOH & Hye ryeong CHO, Hybrid Space LAB, Jung heun KIM, Lee BUL, Mischa LEINKAUF, Mikael LEVIN, Joung-ki MIN, Project DMZ, Donghyuk SHIN, Seungwoo BACK, Soyoung CHUNG, Jane jin KEISEN,, Suntag NOH, Heinkuhn OH, Joongho YUM, Dongsei KIM, Kyungah HAM, Chan-kyong PARK, Alain DECLERQ, Hayoon KWON


Centre Culturel Coréen
Sep 11 – Nov 6, 2020
20, Rue la Boétie
75008 Paris

FIMINCO Foundation
Sep 12 – Oct 31
43 Rue de la Commune de Paris
93230 Romainville