'Archaeology of the Present' with Nuances

If you're a frequent flyer on  these 'Korean errlines', you're used to digging through layers of history, culture, and cityscapes. You know that neither Seoul nor Korea can be captured, but  you also want to know which wonder each new excavation can expose, which emotions each new voice can trigger.

So you're probably going to enjoy Nuances' upcoming  'Archéologie du présent' exhibition.

Founded in 2025, Nuances brings together a multidisciplinary group of Francophone artists and creators living or working in South Korea. This unique collective draws on the dual Franco-Korean cultural influence to offer a sensitive and original perspective on contemporary Korean society, through the richness of its contrasts and rapid transformations.

To mark the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and South Korea, Nuances presents its first group exhibition; 'Archéologie du présent' ('Archaeology of the Present'), will open on August 6 at France Art Space in partnership with the Alliance Française of Busan. 

Full disclosure: I've been a member of Nuances since last spring, when a filmmaker friend proposed this scribbler to join the collective. He didn't even need to bait me with the exhibition theme (hard to imagine one hitting home more powerfully!): I already knew a few of the artists and the group, which radiates a contagious positive energy, reaches far beyond what I could imagine. I only had a glimpse of the works to be exhibited and can't wait to explore the full show.

So come visit France Art Space in Busan this summer (August 6 to 30). The exhibition will come to Seoul this autumn (October 1 to 14) in a place where 'Archaeology of the Present' will resonate very particularily: our beloved KOTE in Insadong.

Exposition « Archéologie du présent » 
August 6 to 30, 2026
France Art Space, Annex of GOEUN Museum of Photography
Haeundaero 452beongil 16, Haeundae-gu, Busan
Nuances: @nuancesartistes 
2026.8.6-30 Busan @franceartspace_busan
2026.10.1-14 Seoul @kote.kr
Artists and creators: Sebastien SIMON, Pascal BELMAS, Jungran KIM, Tim FRANCO, L'Atelier PIEPRZOV, Jim VIEILLE, Nils BOUVYER, Emmanuel WOLFS, Elodie CATHERINE, Zoe CONSTANS, Salome DUBOIS HAN, Stephane MOT, Kamy DOBI, Ines MOLLARD ZAIDI, Celia BRISOT

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PS: about the work I'll be presenting at the show (below): 'You are here (a spacetime capsule)' / 'Vous etes ici (capsule spatio-temporelle)' / '당신은 여기에 있다 (시공간 캡슐)'

 

Seoul waterways and urbanism - the full story

As Typhoon Khanun slashes through Korea, please all be safe.

The other day in KOTE, during my lecture "Flow and order - Seoul waterways and other urban stitches", we've seen among other things how Seoul has been struggling from day one with floods, how its waterways play a vital role in managing them, and how this role is bound to become even more critical with climate change, even if the city keeps increasing its natural defenses. 

Again, I thank the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch for inviting me, Julie AHN for making the event possible in our beloved KOTE*, and every single member of the audience for coming. Again, sorry to have drowned you all under my overworded slides. RASKB will shortly put the video of the disaster on its YouTube channel**, and I'll add the link here as soon as it is available.

If you really want to take your time and read every line of every slide, the full presentation is here: academia.edu/105436714/Flow_and_Order_Seoul_Waterways_and_other_Urban_Stitches. 

Shaped by its considerable natural assets, Seoul turned into a major city by negating them in a constant fight to tame a nature capable of major destruction but unable to cope with urban expansion. In this young millennium, this war has evolved into a love story, and Seoulites are reopening an intimate dialog with waterways that even under their concrete prisons kept drawing Seoul's maps, telling the city's history and their own stories. Yet urban planners must avoid overflowing it with storytelling. If Seoul has no future without curated natural spaces, this shapeshifter of a city will always require unscripted parts.

Introduction: The city's lungs and bloodstream
1) The Way of Water vs The Highway of 'Progress'
2) The Way Forward (?) - 'Recreation', 'Renaissance', 'Emotion'
Conclusion: Storytelling vs the Unscripted Seoul

I'll drop below a few not to wordy samples from this 56-slide trainwreck:

On Seoul's 'dong' / neighborhoods / villages, shared water, time capsules...

Angukdongcheon, the visitor that stopped at KOTE's door the other night 

Seoul choked by concrete (things have improved since, looking forward to fresh data from the Seoul Institute

An extreme climate, major changes and challenges

On the menu: The city's lungs and bloodstream / The Way of Water vs The Highway of 'Progress' / The Way Forward (?) - 'Recreation', 'Renaissance', 'Emotion' / Storytelling vs the Unscripted Seoul

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* always heartwrenching to see KOTE's old odong namu / princess tree down following that recent storm, but its baby is doing well, and that's a reminder that water brings life, destruction, and communities closer together.

** RASKB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@raskb1/about
   Video of the disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YMti3ieiHQ

'Flow and order - Seoul waterways and other urban stitches'

Very pleased to announce that on August 8 I'll be giving a lecture to Royal Asiatic Society Korea on Seoul waterways and other 'urban stitches', as I like to call elements that make our city more wholesome and awesome.

Looking forward to seeing you in KOTE next month (see details below)!

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TITLE: 'Flow and order - Seoul waterways and other urban stitches'

DATE: Tuesday. August 8, 2023. 7:30PM (Seoul)
VENUE: KOTE in Insa-dong (Insadong-gil 7, Jongno-gu, Seoul)

SUMMARY:

If humans have tamed Seoul’s mountains and streams, these natural assets keep acting as great dividers and connectors, at the same time hindering and enabling this shapeshifter of a city. Urban planners have realized how key they are for Seoul’s competitiveness, but each time they decide to put a spotlight on them, whole neighborhoods can be revived or destroyed. As Seoul grows more ambitious visions and narratives around these urban stitches, unscripted parts must be left for the city to breathe and evolve, for new stories to emerge.

BIO:

A French author and conceptor born in Paris in 1967, Stephane Mot first met Seoul in 1991, as a young ESSEC alumn at the French Embassy’s economy section. Without ever disowning fiction, satire, and nonsense, this expert in strategy and innovation (serial startup survivor, strategic advisor…) is naturally drawn to what comes next and often writes about innovation, urbanism, politics, culture, or societal trends.
His fictions include ‘dragedies’ (bittersweet-going-on-pungent fictions) and ‘La Ligue des Oublies’ (The League of The Forgotten, a tribute to soccer legends who never existed). ‘Seoul Villages’, his first collection of short stories in English, is now available in Korean and will be adapted into short films; these Seoul urban legends are also a form of revenge on SeoulVillage.com, his non-fiction blog devoted to a city of which he’s walked through every single neighborhood.
Stephane and Seoul have been haunting each other for over three decades.

To register to the event: 'Flow and order - Seoul waterways and other urban stitches'

 UPDATE: watch the lecture, download the presentation: 'Seoul waterways and urbanism - the full story' 

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KOTE Potluck Art Festival 2023

Between March 1 and 5,  Insadong’s cultural complex KOTE proposes an art festival rich in exhibitions, events, and performances featuring major as well as emerging artists.


About KOTE

Over the past few years, KOTE has become a vibrant symbol of Seoul’s creativity, resilience, and inclusiveness. At the crossroads of Insadong, Pimatgol, and contemporary art, a retro yet modern space to explore, connect, and inspire; a salon where, every day, cultures and citizens dialog and meet, where thinkers and creators from all horizons share and challenge each other; a unique ecosystem where visionary companies and embassies host meaningful events; a village where, in all seasons, new ideas and friendships bloom across generations, around its charming courtyard and iconic paulownia (the very name KOTE rings like both ‘court’ and ‘flower’). 


About KOTE POTLUCK ART FESTIVAL:

For five days (March 1st to 5th), the KOTE Potluck Art Festival will fill the whole complex from its courtyard to its rooftop with a rich program featuring over 150 artists from 12 countries: contemporary art, new media, installations, photography, films, music or dance performances…  a wide diversity to stimulate all senses.

Kote Potluck Art Festival 2023 (March 1-5)
Opening Ceremony: March 1st, 5 pm
Kote: Insadong-gil 7, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Tel: 02) 737-7977
email: artspacekote@gmail.com
website: kote.kr
Instagram: @kote.kr

 

 

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ADDENDUM 20230226

A few shots from my series 'The People of Seoul' will be exhibited at KOTE's Joseon Salon during the festival:

Seoul Village 2023
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'Jeronimo' and beyond

Frankly, 'Jeronimo' should be screened in every Korean high school. I'm not saying that because the director, Joseph JUHN, happens to be a friend - his documentary deservedly received awards and critical acclaim, and even praise from the President in Cheong Wa Dae. 'Jeronimo' has a rare power to move and to change people, starting with Joseph himself, as he kept discovering new layers of a very rich character, and of the wonderful Korean diaspora in Cuba.



You may not have watched the documentary yet, or even heard of Jeronimo Lim, so I won't give any spoilers. Know that there's everything; between History (slavery, independence, revolution etc), his story, their love story, and so much more.

I saw how 'Jeronimo' moved and impacted diverse audiences in different contexts, not just here, and not just Koreans - be they from this or that side of the DMZ, of multicultural background, or from different parts of the Korean diaspora. Because this is not just about the Korean identity (koreanity? koreanness? koreanhood?), and certainly not about nationalism, to the contrary! Beyond this touching community, beyond the longing and belonging, this is about humanity, inclusive, universal kinship.

Even after five screenings, I'm always moved. And now I almost see Jeronimo Lim, Cheon-taek, Patricia, Nelsonito, and all the others as family.

In Paris, after a screening on Joseph's European tour, in the new Centre Culturel Coreen, we could see people from very different nationalities in the audience feel a personal connection, an echo to their own families.

I believe this documentary should be screened in every Korean high school because it can change in a very positive manner the way Koreans consider not only their own diaspora, but the diasporas they don't even suspect exist in Korea**.

"#Jeronimo's international tour in #Paris - screening at the new #CentreCulturelCoreen. Always a pleasure,  #JosephJuhn!
#헤로니모" (20200220 - @theseoulvillage - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1230333467809984514)

The other day in Insadong, at KOTE***, Joseph JUHN gave a talk about the Korean diasporas of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Diasporas that, in the States, are on the streets to support #BlackLivesMatter, 28 years after the L.A. riots. Doing the right thing 31 years after Spike Lee's movie. Diasporas ready to become agents of positive change, within their communities and beyond. 

So (re)watch 'Jeronimo' on YouTube (youtube.com/watch?v=-CU7q4v-PxA), on Vimeo, or on your PPV platform (and check the website: jeronimothemovie.com).

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** not to mention the diasporas some of them don't want to start existing - see the sad episode of the Yemeni refugees, when hundreds of thousands petitioned for their expulsion, but also when more than  a few demonstrated to defend their rights.

*** Note that the first 'KOTE Dialog' honored another gifted friend, documentary photographer Harry CHUN. Come to think of it, I first met Joseph and Harry the same year, in 2016. Joseph was about to return to Cuba for his documentary, and Harry was planning a different kind of emotional journey, embarking with refugees on their way to and across Europe. Harry exhibited some of his stunning works at Sejong Cultural Center a few weeks ago (for the World Refugee Day Photograph Exhibition with UNHCR and UPI). Here too, a powerful mirror for everyone because each one of us can become a refugee tomorrow, and a particularly needful one in a nation that doesn't welcome many refugees.

#HarryChun #vernissage @ #SejongCenter. #세계난민사진전 #난민 #refugees
#harrychungphotography'' (20200617 - instagram.com/p/CBhvEv3JLeW)