PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP FOR USFK PERSONNEL
Dates: December 2, 2023 - March 2, 2024
Artists: Arthur Moran, Marcus Phillips, Robert Hilton, Victoria Faith Hill
Support: Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation
Since its establishment in February 2021 (and even before, considering research period), Space AfroAsia has been trying to weave the relationship between local Koreans, American soldiers, and African and Asian migrant workers living in Dongducheon. To build another foundation, in the summer and fall of 2023, Space AfroAsia conducted the Photography Workshop for USFK Personnel stationed in Korea at Camp Casey. There are probably not many cases where private art institutions have conducted educational programs for U.S. military personnel stationed in Korea.
For about a month, lectures were given by culture critic, independent curator and broadcasting personality Ahn Jae Woo, who served at Camp Casey as a KATUSA soldier, and Yolissma, an American photographer. For another month, CHE Onejoon, artist by himself, co-founder and programmer of Space AfroAsia, gave more practical lectures to the participants with the course of field trip - shooting - review. CHE's lecture was conducted in a way that focused on each participant's strengths and specialized them.
In the future, this workshop-exhibition program will be expanded to target local residents and migrant workers from Africa and Asia, playing a role in connecting these three or more communities in Dongducheon. In the process of organizing an archive of the past of Dongducheon for over three years, Space AfroAsia realized that people who hold the most photos of Dongducheon from the past is retired U.S. soldiers (veterans). Because there was a lot of flood damage in Dongducheon, many local residents lost their own photos. Photos of Dongducheon uploaded online by retired U.S. soldiers become valuable historical data. Therefore, the Photography Workshop for USFK Personnel aims to record the present of Dongducheon from various perspectives and also contains efforts to connect the past, present, and future by continuing the practice of "Dongducheon images recorded by the U.S. military." Current records through various viewfinders will become future historical treasure trove.
In Dongducheon Viewfinder, an exhibition on the results of the Photography Workshop for USFK Personnel, a total of four soldiers participated as artists; Arthur Moran, Marcus Phillips, Robert Hilton, and Victoria Faith Hill. They captures Dongducheon from different perspectives. First, Moran found hidden places in Dongducheon and captured them in his viewfinder. The scenery of Saengyeon-dong or in Teokgeori-village photographed in his own way that emphasizes lines and planes, looks both familiar and unfamiliar to the audience. Meanwhile, Phillips tells the story through characters. The various characters that reside in Dongducheon, captured from a short distance, reflect his affectionate gaze on every one of them. Hilton's photos focus more on the event. The scenery and people of Dongducheon that he overlooks, give premonitions that something will happen soon. Lastly, Hill talks about memory and records, which are one of the major roles of photography. Hill filled the viewfinder with memories in Dongducheon from a week before returning to the United States. In addition to the four artists' works, the exhibition shows the scenes of Dongducheon recorded by the U.S. military in the 1970s and 1980s, connecting the past and present.
Sun A Moon (Director of Space AfroAsia)
ARTISTS
U.S Army USAG Y-D First Sergeant, Camp Casey
Born in El Salvador
DPTMS Operations NCOIC, HHC, Camp Casey
Born in Selma, Alabama
U.S. Army USAG 403rd AFSB Operations Sergeant, Camp Casey
Born in Louisville, Mississippi
Former Combat Medic/Healthcare Specialist, Camp Casey
Born in Seven Springs, North Carolina