Jane Jin Kaisen exhibition explores the cost of rapid change

A solo exhibition by Korean-born Danish artist Jane Jin Kaisen opens at Tallinn’s Kai Art Center on Saturday, bringing together seven video works for the first time in Europe, ERR reports.

The works, shown on large screens, tell stories about Jeju, the artist’s home island at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. Visitors can walk through the exhibition or watch the videos one by one. Together, they portray Jeju as a distinct cultural community, with its own rituals, and an area no larger than two Hiiumaa islands.

The island’s natural beauty contrasts with the tragedies of its history. Through personal stories, Kaisen explores broader themes, including the effects of climate change, technological change, modernisation and mass tourism.

“Many societies are undergoing very rapid changes,” Kaisen said. “This raises the question of what all this comes at a cost to, and what might disappear with these changes, whether certain cultural forms or traditions. It raises the question of how to preserve and value these practices so they can survive into the future.”

Exhibition curator Karin Laansoo said Kaisen had captured important aspects of the mindset of a small people, helping the artist build an international reputation. Laansoo pointed to Jeju’s history in the 1940s, a small country in the sphere of influence of great powers, silenced history and family stories that echo on a wider stage. She also noted how unresolved past events continue to resurface in the present.

The exhibition will remain on view until the penultimate week of February.