GHOST ROOTS: A New 강강술래 Ganggangsullae
Photo Still: GHOST ROOTS: A New Ganggangsullae, credit Albert Wong
Through GHOST ROOTS, Kim explores the possibilities of a future of solidarity, care, and celebration through the stories of two Asian American women and by reimagining the Korean circle dance of 강강술래. Inside the circle, a home is created for participants, a safe place to share their stories and reclaim their dignity.
What is home? For most of us, home is a physical place, perhaps with walls and a roof. But for an immigrant or the displaced, home begins to take on other meanings. When does the place you left behind stop being home? When does belonging in a new place begin?
Kim has carried a space inside herself that has become her home, a space built of memories, images, colors, and words. The artist invites you to contribute to this home we are building together in this space at Pao Arts Center. Think about what words, images, or memories embody belonging for you. Let our shared stories and experiences create our collective home.
Note: the windows in the installation were salvaged from houses in Durham, NC, and Madison, WI, former temporary homes of the artist.
Soyoung L Kim’s film, GHOST ROOTS: A New Ganggangsullae, is made possible by a Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation. This Pao Arts Center exhibit is supported by Nancy W. Adams and Scott A. Schoen.
Headshot, Sooyoung L. Kim, photo credit Mel Taing
Soyoung L Kim’s work blends several practices, including painting, sculpture, writing, stop motion animation, and performance. As 교포 Gyopo, as part of the Korean diaspora, she moves freely across artistic disciplines to create new works that blend those disciplines and to break those boundaries. Her work is influenced by her own childhood of many moves and displacements and the many stories she has gathered over the three continents she has called home. Kim’s work aims to transport us to a place of liberation, where we are free from colonization and the burdens of racism, fear and hate.