By Catherine Angst

Danny Kim discusses his work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

On Thursday, February 15th, 2018 the John Hope Franklin Center and the Asian Pacific Studies Institute hosted an opening reception for “Looking North” a collaborative multimedia exhibition by Danny Kim (MFAEDA ’18) and Peter Lisignoli (MFAEDA ’13). The exhibit will be on display until March 30th, 2018.

“Looking North” documents the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at the border between North and South Korea. The exhibit shows the bucolic landscape of the 38th parallel juxtaposed against museums, gift shops, and amusement parts.

Lisignoli’s created this work during his second visit to the DMZ area. The experience left him with a feeling of displacement. Kim, a native Seoul-born Korean citizen who served in the military was struck by the oddity of the DMZ theme park where tourists looked longingly through the telescopes across the Imjin River, fascinated by the neighboring country, after more than six decades of separation.

Attendees of the “Looking North” reception has a chance to interact with Kim about the work.