Installation and performance

In search of invisibilized cartographies, Mercedes Azpilicueta looks at the migratory movement and establishment of the Korean community in Buenos Aires and their significant role in the development of the local textile industry from the late 60s on. What followed for the next 2-3 decades, was a progressive growth of an enclaved community that strongly shaped the locally produced garment economy of the city at that time. A city within a city, as much as a garment within a garment, travels back and forth in time to retell their stories across generations, financial crises and religious configurations. Women have been in the central role of it, stitching and unstitching while signing, supporting and organising.
Such histories of migration and the construction of communities and displaced identities manifest in a series of soft sculptures, composed of garments produced by Korean family businesses in Buenos Aires’ Koreatown, Koreatown, and in the newly commissioned sound piece Una canción coreana [A Korean Song]. Amid this dreamlike atmosphere, textures and colours unite territories, languages, and personal nar- ratives that speak to the fluidity of boundaries and identities in opposition to fixed notions of nationality and territory.                                                                                                                

Five Spells and a Song was commissioned by 12th Mediacity Seoul Biennial THIS TOO, IS A MAP, Seoul Museum of Art, September 23 2023. Curated by Rachael Rakes and Sofia Dourron.

Five Spells & A Song I ~V, 2023

Quilt & Patchwork made from recycled and special materials: Argentinean produced apparel from the Korean community in Buenos Aires, upcycled garments from the artist and from Amsterdam, scraps of fabrics from the artist’s studio (cotton, velvet, lurex a.o.), layer of batting (100% bamboo) and cotton.

Made in collaboration with Mika Perlmutter, Hsin-Yu Huang, and Darsha Golova.

Research and Assistance: Antonia Fratini.

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Una canción coreana [A Korean Song], 2023

Soundscape. ca. 7 min
In collaboration with Toni Brell.

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Five Spells & A Song, 2023

Performance in collaboration with Lee Seung-hee
Percussion: Gosu
Music: Lee Hyang Ha
Duration: 30 min.

Performance and exhibition views of the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale THIS TOO, IS A MAP, Seoul Museum of Art, September 23 2023. Photo: GLIMWORKERS. Courtesy of the Seoul Museum of Art

Photos: GLIMWORKERS, Courtesy of the Seoul Museum of Art