YunYoung Ahn

Artist Catalogue

Virtual Exhibition

Group Catalogue Site

고향 (GoHyang): A Call to Home, Questions I Never Thought to Ask

My body of work rises from a combination of the histories and ceremonies I am sculpted from. Some I embrace, while others I reject and have grown away from. Through my research, I raise questions about metanarratives that are built on the silence of others – questions I never dared to ask or even knew how to ask. I seek to reclaim the silenced voices in myself relating to femininity, spirituality and food politics. My research was sparked by questioning the difference in construction of the male and female versions of the traditional Korean Ha-Hwe mask used in performances. The mask intended for males allows for space to speak, whereas its female counterpart does not. Largely mirroring society today, traditional mask performances showcase men as the purveyors of this tradition and culture. However, in the practice of Korean traditional mask dances, the ones who wear the mask (regardless of their biological characteristics) are vessels into which the spirit of the mask flows, to tell a story. Despite gender politics, anyone can wear the mask if they can be a vessel.

This made me take a deeper look into traditional Korean spiritual knowledge and raise questions about the ways it has been demonised or deemed primitive – especially as someone who grew up as a Korean Christian missionary kid in Kenya. These are questions I would not have asked if I never set foot on Azanian soil. I am however not interested in dismissing or bashing Christian spirituality; I am guided by the conglomeration of spiritual practices both historical and contemporary in all the places I am rooted. An important part of traditional Korean spirituality is its deep connection to the land, cycles of nature and, in turn, the ways in which the body is nourished through what the earth provides. Food is not only a means of sustaining the body, but also sustains the story and culture of a people and the history of a land. It is nourishment for the body and soul. Through the food stories of the places I grew up in, I find connections with parts of my heritage and the different places I have lived.

My project has been a way for me to look into unprocessed generational trauma, but it has also been a way for me to further develop a language of love through these questions around metanarratives. Love for the forgotten and ignored, and love for connection. I ask these questions to make space for a wider understanding of history, context and the various spiritual backgrounds of my heritage and place I resided in. 고향, GoHyang, is a Korean word that cradles a special kind of warmth to describe home. My final performance piece is a ritual to call myself home. A home that I am only really starting to discover. It is a space for my voice, a place where I remind myself to ask. Ask to decipher. Ask to dismantle. Ask to rebuild. And ask – to create