In the wake of the 2000s, both the field of archival studies and the contemporary art scene in Korea have witnessed a growing discourse around archives. Alongside truth-finding movements addressing the sacrifices and human rights violations embedded in Korea’s modern history, the value of manuscripts―records that remained outside official documentation―has been newly recognized. Simultaneously, critiques of institutional archives, which have long reinforced official histories and dominant narratives, have fueled alternative archival practices. Contemporary art has also engaged with archival theory, generating and reorganizing records to highlight events and subjects omitted from mainstream discourse. Over the past two decades, manuscript collections and archive-based artistic practices have played a key role in recovering marginalized histories and shaping a shared terrain of collective memory.
This exhibition aligns with the Seoul Museum of Art’s 2025 institutional theme, “action,” explores the social value and activist potential of archival practices today. Revisiting the trajectory of so-called archival art alongside manuscript practices it considers how these two currents contribute to counter-memory and shape evolving critical discourse on archives. In an era of digital saturation, where the rapid production of information coexists with misinformation and so-called alternative facts, the unfolding global crises urge us to reconsider―how we record and interpret the present. This exhibition seeks to reflect on the social role of contemporary art and archives in expanding social memory and amplifying diverse voices.
The exhibition title Into Other Rivers draws inspiration from the famous saying by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (BCE 535–475), ‘one never steps into the same river twice.’ It underscores the point that records are not permanent―rather, they represent a process of interacting with today’s awareness as we read and perceive them. The exhibition consists of three sections, based on a detailed approach to incidents and objects and their multi-dimensional relationships. “Deferred Memory” presents artwork that turns a contemporary perspective on Korea’s modern and contemporary history and the suppressed community histories within. In connection with this, it displays archival materials associated with the Korea Democracy Foundation and the Korea Queer Archive Queerarch. “Witnessed Record” presents archival materials from the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation and the Art Archives, Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA AA) which concern the history of the Jeju 4·3 and the Japanese military “comfort women.” The section also features artwork that creates a space of affect based on meticulous documentation of these histories. “Projected Narrative” presents work that is rooted in real-world issues and archives while constructing new narratives in those spaces of absence. In the process, it liberates realms that have hitherto been obscured by prevailing social ideas, boundaries, and fragmented discourse.
Into Other Rivers highlights how records of the past and present are continuously reshaped and reinterpreted, prompting a renewed awareness of memory, emotion, and perception while exploring the multifaceted nature of archival activism in driving future action.
