Itinerant Sends for Itinerant

Mythological Quarter neighbors and friends, Jane Jin Kaisen & Guston Sondin-Kung, have opened a new exhibition space in the neighborhood. The pair have long collaborated under the name itinerant_sends_for_itinerant, and they chose this name for their new space at Borups Allé 31. The name refers to a person who travels and has no fixed home; a migratory vagabond, often moving for work purposes, but also other reasons. We are happy to have a critical discussion and exhibition space so close to home.

The first exhibition is also the start of a series called Incisions. Incisions #1–Black Traces of Smoke: Imaginaries of Revolution (Oct 1-Nov 30). The pair describe the Incisions series as an investigation of knowledge production through aesthetics and criticism. The series will include film screenings, lectures, performances, reading groups, and a journal, as an extended means of  understanding our tumultuous contemporary reality.

Jane and Gus describe their collaboration as an ongoing interest in “contested and emerging histories, places where historical truth is actively being disputed  and its effects felt through traumatic dislocation.”  The pair are artists and activists, who use their art work to present difficult histories in a new light. They have worked together on film projects such as The Woman, The Orphan, and the Tiger (2010) and Islands of Stone (2011). Both films employ experimental documentary aesthetics and tropes to explore topics from the diaspora of Korean adoptees, collective trauma, retelling history, and global militarization. Additionally,  Islands of Stone , which focuses on local resistance to the construction of  a new naval base in South Korea, was key in drawing international attention to the struggle of Yang Yun Mo, a film critic and political prisoner who opposed the construction of the base.

The new space turns its attention to the recent revolutionary struggles in the Middle East. Work shown in this first exhibition, includes Julia Meltzer and David Thorne, Mosireen Collective, Al Kawakeb Magazine (Egyptian Film magazine), and work by Jane and Gus as itinerant_sends_for_itinerant.

We look forward to more from Jane and Gus in the new space!