우리 [WOO:RI]
The Poetic Intervention
Contemporary Art from South Korea
in Czech Sanctuaries

An intercultural project of The Centre for Theology and Arts,
JW STELLA Arts Collectives and TINA B festiival.
Curated by JW Stella and Norbert Schmidt.

Co-organisers:
Academic Parish of the Holy Savior in Prague
Benedictine Archabbey of St Adalbert and St Margaret in Břevnov
Dominikánská 8 at the St. Giles Dominican Priory in Prague
Most Holy Trinity Monastery of the Discalced Carmelites in Slaný

The special collaborative art project ‘우리[WOO:RI] is a poetic intervention to bring contemporary art more close to our lives through this intensive and spiritual engagement with the three artists from Korea at prominent sanctuaries of the Czech Republic.

The concept of this project entitled ‘우리 [WOO:RI]’ is a Korean word meaning ‘we/our/us’ in the term of English language. In here, it is considered a metaphor of interhuman spheres which consists of relationships between people, societies, communities, individuals and cultures. However, the concept behind this word implies more than what they literally meant in Korean socio-cultural environment. Like a double edged-knife, it contains a strong sense of the social cohesion within the same circle of group consciousness. However, it can also show some sense of exclusionism and prejudice which alienates others who don’t belong to the sense of inclusion.

In this sense, this project tries to explore and examine the double paradox of the notion of a relationship‘through the philosophical discourse between the artists and the spiritual voices in the sanctuaries of the Czech Republic – the poetic intervention.

The aim of this intervention is to produce a positive but innovative confrontation toward all kinds of relative prejudice occuring from the dichotomous views – the division of old and new, east and west, or sacred and secular. In reality, these dichotomous views mirror the creation of diverse possibilities of being? It could demonstrate a mirror that will remind us that old is not so old in its strong presence and new is not so new, if we, for instance, picture an Asian salon with old Baroque interiors of chateaus and monasteries in the Baroquan period.

In this intervention, the subject will be open to artists, leading us on an artistic quest to contemplate about ourselves – [우리 WOO:RI].

This event grows from the encounter of two complementary ways of observing art, personalised in the figures of the two curators JW Stella and Norbert Schmidt. JW Stella is an independent curator and cultural mediator based in London and Seoul who has curated high profile contemporary art projects its concept is based on cultural anthropology. Norbert Schmidt is an architect, redactor of the Theological Revue Salve and director of The Center for Theology and Arts at the Catholic Theological Faculty at the Charles University in Prague, which specializes in contemporary art, architecture, liturgy and sacred spaces.

 

Choi Jeonghwa – Beautiful! Beautiful Life
Academic Parish of the Holy Savior in Prague
říjen 2012

Hong Soun – My Dream / My Avatar
Dominikánská 8 at the St. Giles Dominican Priory in Prague
říjen 2012

Kim Byoungho – Collected Silences
Casa Sancta – Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Slaný
říjen 2012

Choi Jeonghwa – The Breathing Flower / Red Lotus
Benedictine Archabbey of St Adalbert and St Margaret in Břevnov
říjen 2012

 

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