| Place | Asia: Korea |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | AWM2019.215.2.2 |
| Collection type | Art |
| Object type | Photograph |
| Physical description | Photography; digital pigment print on archival rag photographique paper |
| Maker |
Grant, Lee |
| Place made | Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Korea: Imjin River |
| Date made | 2019 |
| Conflict |
Korea, 1950-1953 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: AWM Licensed copyright |
And the rivers still flow towards an open sea: Guarding the border: a view across the Imjin river to North Korea
Description
Artist Lee Grant took this photograph of the view from South Korea over the Imjin river to North Korea during a research trip in 2014. She included it in a photographic series "And the rivers still flow towards an open sea", a poetic response to the experience and legacy of the Korean War for that nation. It is one of two series of photographs that comprise "Mnemosyne" by artist Lee Grant, responding the history and legacy of the Korean War shared between the Republic of Korea and Australia.
She reflected on her visit to the Demilitarized Zone:
"The ongoing military presence and training is a not so subtle reminder that technically, both Koreas remain at war. In the space surrounding the DMZ one might easily imagine the surreal potential of a return to armed conflict, but it’s a strange thought to have as the minutiae of daily life keeps everyone distracted by the dramas of their own lives. And yet there remains an anxiety of sorts everywhere I go. I wonder if it’s the memory of conflict in the landscape or a national inherited trauma that is at the root of this anxiety? Maybe even an unspoken fear of a return to the past? Koreans are, generally speaking, quite future orientated. But how does a nation and a people design and imagine a future that depends on a relationship so bereft of reason? This, I suspect, is just one of the banal legacies of a war yet to be resolved." - Lee Grant, 2019
Grant was selected by the Australian War Memorial as the Australian artist for the inaugural artist residency exchange project with the Republic of Korea. (Taedong Kim was the Korean artist, he spent a month based at the Australian War Memorial.) Grant travelled to Korea to research the history and legacy of the conflict. She visited historic sites and met with current and former service personnel and civilians who lived through the war. She then undertook research at the Australian War Memorial and met with Australian veterans. "Mnemosyne" includes two series of photographs, "Towards a field of sleep" and "And the rivers still flow towards an open sea". Grant's own photographs are complemented with archival photograph's from the Memorial collection. Mnemosyne is the name of the ancient Green goddess of memory and remembrance.