Korean Air Box Project is a long-term project that organizes displays of installation artworks by renowned artists from around the world in Seoul Box, the central exhibition space of MMCA, Seoul. Celebrating the experimental spirit of contemporary art and presenting a new vision for the future, the project chose Yangjiang Group (active since 2002) from China to be the next artists to showcase their works in 2016. Yangjiang Group is preparing diverse installation, performance, and interactive artworks based on the themes of writing and tea drinking.

Zheng Guogu, Chen Zaiyan, and Sun Qinglin, the three artists who make up the group, have been highly active on the international stage, displaying their works at such major events as the Gwangju Biennial (2002), Venice Biennale (2003), and Documenta (Kassel, 2007). These artists have been drawing considerable international attention with their large-scale installation works and diverse interactive programs for audiences in their hometown of Yangjiang, located in China’s Guangdong Province.

Their latest project, entitled Calligraphy Is the Way to Communicate with the Most Primal Power, will feature four participatory performance works such as After Dinner Calligraphy and Tea and Incense Ceremony, continuously transforming the appearance of Seoul Box throughout the year. Calligraphy, a highly valued part of East Asian tradition, will be revived through a unique reinterpretation, where the artists will invite visitors to enjoy a large meal together and use the leftovers to perform calligraphy. There will also be a workshop on tea drinking, offering an opportunity for visitors to share and enjoy traditional teas of China together. Yangjiang Group hopes that these activities will enable visitors to share their joy and interact with one another actively and freely. Visitors will be encouraged to join in the process of creating art and reaffirm solidarity through participation, without the dichotomies between China and the rest of the world, between the traditional and the modern, and between art and daily lives.

Throughout the exhibition, Seoul Box Archive will feature a documentary showing the daily activities and artistic processes of Yangjiang Group in their studio as well as interviews with the artists.

About the exhibition

Dates: October 18, 2016–August 27, 2017

Venue: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

Courtesy of the artists and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, for further information please visit www.mmca.go.kr.