SOLO OSLOKim Hankyul

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The word Shore describes the border between the sea and land. For his new installation, Kim Hankyul has departed from testimonies of people whose lives are entwined with the ocean: a North Korean defector, who escaped via the Yellow Sea; a community of female free divers, haenyeo, from the South-Korean island of Geoje; and a group of divers who work on rescue and cleaning operations. Geoje was home to a prisoner camp during the Korean War (1950–1953), which has a residual impact on its inhabitants.  

Hankyul has a long-standing interest in the work of Foley artists, who use physical objects to create sound effects for radio and film production. The oceanic sounds in Shore are created through wooden bones running over computer keys, mounted with microphones and broadcast through surrounding speakers. Three makeshift cages hang at different heights, reflecting the depth of the ocean that each narrative is concerned with. Subtitles for the Korean voice-overs are provided in Norwegian and English via holograms, whose whirring fans join the soundscape. 

The installation is bathed in a blue hue. The soft carpet and curvature of the floor create the sensation of walking on the seabed. Looking up, visitors get the impression of finding themselves just below the shimmering surface of the water. Snippets of film documenting the liberation of the Geoje prisoner of war camp anchors the narratives in a particular location, but the oceanic imaginaries of the work have wider political and geographic ripple effects.

As Hankyul notes: “Shore explores how the underwater world has been used as a space for identities formed by individuals who are not protected by institutional or social structures on land. For them, the ocean is a both a means of escape, a source of living – and a cemetery.”  Read curator Tominga O’Donnell’s essay.

This is the fifth edition of the SOLO OSLO series, in which an emerging Oslo-based artist is awarded a solo exhibition of new work at MUNCH. SOLO OSLO has been supported by Talent Norge and Canica and is a central part of MUNCH's commitment to contemporary art, focusing on the next generation of artists and mediators. Previous editions have showcased talents such as Sandra Mujinga and Constance Tenvik. For the fifth edition the Oslo-based artist, Kim Hankyul (b.1990, Busan, South Korea) will take over the characteristic exhibition space on the museum’s 10th floor. He works with moving installations that create sensory encounters between technology, emotion and marginalised bodies.

The exhibition is curated by Tominga O’Donnell.  

About Kim Hankyul:

Kim Hankyul (b.1990, Busan, South Korea) lives and works in Oslo, Norway. Through evocative soundscapes and mechanical movements, his work questions nations and borders, belief systems and media communities. He holds a bachelor degree in Aesthetics from Seoul National University and a master degree in Art from The Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen. Hankyul’s work has been awarded the Kistefos Prize and the Sparebankstiftelsen DNB’s grant in Norway and is held in the Astrup Fearnley Collection. His work has recently been presented at Salón Acme, Mexico City (2024), Pal Project, Paris (2024), Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo (2024) and Entrée, Bergen (2023).