Still Present Pasts
STILL PRESENT PASTS embodied life stories from the Korean American Memories of the Korean War Oral History Project, directed by Ramsay Liem, professor of psychology at Boston College.
Motivated by the personal quest of several younger Korean-Americans to acquire a deeper understanding of their families’ experiences during the Korean War, the Korean American Memories of the Korean War Oral History Project had three dozen oral histories from three generations of Korean-Americans living in the greater Boston and San Francisco Bay areas.
These stories are among the first public remembrances by Korean-Americans of the devastation wrought by this horrific civil and international conflict. They also revealed multiple legacies of the war that influence individual, family and community life in the past and present. These oral histories provided a counterpoint to the invisibility of the Korean War in public consciousness and the U.S. historical record.
Still Present Pasts was the result of two years of collaboration among artists Yul-san Liem, Injoo Whang, and Ji-Young Yoo; documentary filmmaker Deann Borshay and historian Ji-Yeon Yuh. Ramsay Liem, professor of psychology at Boston College, directed The Korean American Memories of the Korean War Oral History Project.
Still Present Pasts Exhibition at St. Paul Travelers
2007
With Shinparam and Ed Bok Lee
SHINPARAM is a Korean traditional drumming troupe of the styles known as "poongmulnori" and "samulnori." The poongmul style includes singing, dancing, acting, acrobatics, and the playing of many different folk instruments. Shinparam concentrates on developing members' ability with the four basic Korean percussion instruments: changgo, buk, jing, and kwenggari.
After first performing his poetry on the stages of the internationally-acclaimed Walker Art Center Out There series in 1993, ED BOK LEE has since 2000 featured his poems at hundreds of venues across the U.S., Europe and Asia, including schools, prisons, reservations, shelters, and clubs, as well as for radio and TV, including MTV World.
Still Present Pasts At
Intermedia Arts featured the works of Minnesota-based Korean and Korean American artists with sculpture, photography, prints, sketches, multimedia installation and oral history, this local component of Still Present Pasts echoed the Main Gallery artworks while exploring Minnesota’s own connection to the Korean War.
Artists:
Brian & Christine Davis (Sketches)
Kim Delros (photography)
Dokyun Lee (sculpture)
Aesop Rhim (silkscreened print)
Hansoo Kim (digital animation)
Anne Jin Soo Preston (video installation)
Soo Jin Pate (film history)
Karen HeaChung Lyu (music & performance)
Kim Thompson (performance art)
Sharon Lapensky (storytelling)
Christine NaMee Eriksen (poetry)
The Still Present Pasts was made possible by the Travelers’ Arts & Diversity Committee through a grant to COMPAS and presented by the University of Minnesota Institute for Advanced Study in partnership with Intermedia Arts, Korean Quarterly, and the Minnesota Still Present Pasts Steering Committee.