Kang Ik-joong to float dreams of displaced on Thames

Artist Kang Ik-joong speaks during a press conference, July 13. / Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Korean artist Kang Ik-joong's installation reflecting the yearning and wishes of the Koreans displaced and divided during the Korean War (1950-53) will be on display Sept. 1 to 30.

Titled "Floating Dreams," the structure is three stories high and features 500 miniature drawings created by North Korean defectors now living in the South. It is a lantern illuminated from within and lights up the river in London, floating adjacent to the Millennium Bridge as a part of the Totally Thames.

Totally Thames, a major outdoor art festival of London, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Adrian Evans, festival director of Totally Thames, said Kang's works dealing with the issue of displaced people in Korea are closely related to the recent refugee problems in Europe.

"These elderly displaced people in Korea are earlier examples of refugees. I wanted to create a monument dedicated to the refugees all over the world, made by the people who were forced to leave their hometowns," Kang said at a press conference last week.

A sketch for Kang Ik-joong's “Floating Dreams,” which will be installed on the River Thames in London in September / Courtesy of the artist

Kang travelled across Korea with the Institute for Unification Education, asking the people from North Korea to draw their hometowns on a 3-inch-by-3-inch square. The drawings reflect their deepest wishes and memories including the landscapes of the towns, faces of people and even letters to childhood friends.

At first, Kang fixed the theme as children's dreams, a recursive idea for his works, but shifted the focus to the displaced. "As I collected drawings of the child refugees, I felt something was missing. Those displaced in Korea, who could be my grandfather or grandmother, are true refugees. And I thought it was proper to discuss the issue of South and North Korea on the River Thames from the perspective of human rights," the artist said.

Kang, 55, currently based in New York, is known for his mosaic-like installation works consisting of hundreds and thousands of small squares. The multimedia artist made his name after hosting a two-person show with Paik Nam-june at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1994. His major installations include "Amazed World" at the United Nations Headquarters in 2001, "Moon of Dream" at Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, in 2004 and "The Bridge of Dream" at the Suncheon Bay Garden Expo in 2013.

While the installation floats on the River Thames, Kang will have an artist talk at the British Museum, where two of his works "12 Wishes" and "Samramansang Moon Jar #1" are on display, on Sept. 17.

For more information, visit www.totallythames.org.