""Spirituality and mortality are foundational to the history of art itself," say the curators of the Seoul Mediacity Biennale, Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres and Lukas Brasiskis. "Practices we now call art-music, visual culture, ritualised movement-originated within ceremonial contexts." Now the upheaval caused by technological advancement prompts artists to consider the mystical as counter to the "anxiety and alienation engendered by the algorithmic automation of everyday life", a search for meaning that "resonates in Korea, as elsewhere, as a deeply contemporary impulse", say the three curators."
"Its 'renaissance of sorts' comes, the curators say, 'after being persecuted by occupying powers and the Korean government for many decades'. "The trio say they sought to facilitate audiences' interpretation of shamanism through the artists' works, such as Jane Jin Kaisen's films of life on Jeju Island, where 'shamanism becomes a language for healing historical trauma-particularly the legacy of war, occupation and political violence'.""
Spirituality and mortality are presented as foundational to the history of art, with art-music, visual culture and ritualised movement originating in ceremonial contexts. Technological advancement and algorithmic automation generate anxiety and alienation, prompting artists to return to mystical practices as an alternative search for meaning. The 13th Mediacity Biennale in Seoul convenes 49 artists and collectives under the title 'Seance: Technology of the Spirit' to map contemporary engagements with spirituality and mysticism across geography and recent history. Shamanism in Korea is experiencing a renaissance and is used in artworks to articulate and heal legacies of war, occupation and political violence.
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