순천 ‘기억의 집’에서 조영주는 한국의 50~70대 여성과 함께 제작한 5개의 댄스 필름을 선보인다. 한국의 역사와 함께, 동시대를 살아온 ‘한국 여성’이라는 공통점을 순천의여성들과 공유하는 것에 목적을 둔다. 같은 연령의 지역 여성들을 ‘도슨트’라는 장치를 이용해 전시에 참여시키고, 자연스럽게 그들의 삶을 예술 작품을 통해 이야기 하고자한다.

<순순만만>전의 5개의 영상은 부산, 오산, 대전, 철원의 비무장지대(DMZ), 양평에서 각각 그 지역 여성들과 제작한 댄스 필름이다. 이 작품들은 조영주 작가의 ‘어머니 세대’에 대한 관심에서 시작되었다. 한국전쟁 직후 태어난 이들은 주로 선을 보고 결혼하고 남편과 아이들을 위해 자신을 희생해왔다. 막 갱년기를 거치고 자식들을 출가시켰지만, 여전히 생업에 종사하는 분들도 적지 않다.

누구의 아내로, 누구의 엄마로 불리는 것이 아직도 편한 그녀들은 나의 프로젝트를 통해 아주 잠시나마 ‘아름다운’ 자신을 발견하고, 아이처럼 기뻐하거나 감격하여 눈물을흘리기도 했다.

지난 몇 년간 나의 프로젝트를 통해 만난 50-70대의 아주머니들은 총 100여 명이 된다. 적게는 며칠, 길게는 몇 달 동안 작업을 함께 진행하였고, 그것이 끝날 무렵에는 무척 아쉬운 마음에 함께 울기도 했다. 지난 수십 년을 한국의 역사와 함께 한국 여성으로서 살아온 이들을 통해, 그 세대와 그녀들의 삶에 대해 다시 한 번 생각하게 하는 시간을 가졌다.

Youngjoo Cho shows 5 dance films made with Korean women at the age between 50 and 70, at ‘House of Memory’ in Suncheon. With Suncheon women, Cho intends to share the common thread of 'Korean women' who have lived in the same age, along with Korea’s history. Suncheon local women participate the exhibition as docents and they share also their stories with the artist in the frame of the exhibition.

The 5 dance-film works shown in the exhibition <SoonSoonManMan>, were made in Busan, Osan, Daejeon, Cheolwon DMZ and Yangpyeong, Korea with the local middle-aged women. The project started from the interest towards my mother generation. Women from my mother generation, who were born right after the Korean War, have married via 'seon (meeting each other with a view to marriage)' and have sacrificed themselves towards their husbands and children. Even after menopause and having their children married, a number of them still earn bread for their families.

Women, who are still comfortable being called as someone's wife or someone's mom, have found 'beautiful' themselves, despite the fact it was only temporary. Some were happy as if they were children, and some wept with their mind deeply touched. For the past year, through my project, I have met with total of 100 women who are at the age between 50 and 70. For a few days to a few months, I have worked with them together, and, as my project came to an end, we cried together feeling sorrow. Through their lives, which lasted with history of Korea for decades, we had a moment to remind ourselves about the lives of our mothers and their generation.

 

DMG_비무장 여신들  DMG: Demilitarized Goddesses, 8 mins 51 secs, sound, color,  철원 Cheorwon, 2015

 

<DMG_비무장 여신들>는 7명의 철원 디엠지 안보관광 해설사들과 함께 제작하였다. 그들은 DMZ_비무장 지대(Demilitarized Zone)에서 30-40년을 살아온 여성들로, 지난 수십년을 생업과 거주등의 이유로 그곳을 매일 같이 드나들었다.

 

DMG: Demilitarized Goddesses is a video work featuring seven Cheorwon DMZ tour guides. They have each lived in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between North and South Korea for 30-40 years, spending almost every day there as part of their work. 

 

 

 

 

워터리 마담 Watery Madams, 11 mins 46 secs, sound, color, 양평 Yangpyeong, 2015

 

양평 옥천면의 8명의 부녀회원들은 대부분 이곳으로 시집와 매일 아침 물가에서 피어나는 안개를 헤치며 농사를 지었다. 마을 곳곳의 냇가와 강가는 잠시 그들의 춤의 무대가 된다.

 

The main performers in this film, eight members of the Yangpyeong Women's Society, are women who relocated to Yangpyeong for marriage and now farm there. The streams and rivers near the village and the misty fields they have plowed form the backdrop for their dances.

 

 

 

그랜드큐티 Grand Cuties, 7 mins 45 secs, sound, color,  대전 Daejeon, 2015

 

프로젝트가 진행된 대흥동은 대전의 원도심이다. 구충남도청 건물처럼 근대문화유산이 아직 곳곳에 남아 있다. 7명의 대흥동 주민들은 이러한 동네 이곳 저곳을 배경으로 춤을 추었다.    

 

Daeheung-dong, where this film was shot, was the original downtown of Daejeon. Modernist buildings from that time, such as the old Chungnam Provincial Government Building, remain and form the backdrop for dances performed by seven residents of the area in this film.

 

 

 

 

 

디바들의 외출  The Divas Go Out, 8 mins 25 secs, sound, color, 오산 Osan, 2015

 

 

서울 변두리에 위치한 오산은 한국전쟁 기간에 만들어진 오산미군기지로 유명하다. 오산에서 쉽게 마주할 수 있는 짓다 만 건물들, 버려진 공터를 배경으로 시민 11명과 함께 본  프로젝트를 진행하였다.Osan City on the outskirts of Seoul is well known for the Osan American Military Base first established there during the Korean War. In this film, eleven local women perform with abandoned buildings and vacant lots – easily found in Osan City – in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

꽃가라 로맨스 Floral Patterned Romance, 6 mins 51 secs, sound, color, 부산 Busan, 2014

 

부산 다대포 지역은 ‘무지개 공단’으로 알려진 부산 남부 변두리 포구이자 대단위 공장 지역이다. 13명의 참여자들은 대부분 이 곳 다대포 지역민이자, ‘무지개 공단’의 노동자이다.

Dadaepo (meaning “big and wide port”), well known for its Rainbow Industrial Complex, is located on the outskirts of Busan. The performers in this film are thirteen local women working at the Complex.