Short Intro

We have started the conversation by trying to understand Chaneung Park's relationship to the area where he manages the gallery space and conducts several programs, one of which is the international residency program we participate in. Anyang river surrounds the area from both sides, and in 1977 it was destroyed by a big flood. After the flood, the area was restored and populated by the lower and lower - middle - class citizens. The gallery and artist's studios are located at the Seoksu market, an open market created in 1979 by the policy of the Anyang municipal government. During the period between the year 2010 and 2020 current municipal government is planning to redevelop the area of Anyan - dong, Seoksu - dong and Bakdal - dong, occupying 1,700,000 m², in order to build the apartments for 25,000 households. In the vicinity of the Seoksu market area there is also the Manan bridge and other historical and cultural remains, so the area bears a symbolic value for the city of Anyang. Chaneung Park has lived here for thirty years and managed a publishing company, a café and Stone & Water gallery during this period. We have been introduced to the fragility of this place in the project guidelines prior to our application to the residency. The project invited artists to engage with the site, its community and related problems but not in a specific way.

More information about the activities of Park Chaneung can be found at Stone&Water WebSite

Park Chaneung Interview

Director of alternative art space Suplement Space Stone & Water, and SAP2009 Residency program in Seoksu Dong, Anyang.

Elvis Krstulović: When did you decide to switch your attention from government and state problems to a local place, and when did you start to think that the concentration on a smaller scale would produce more results?
Chaneung Park: I don't want to be the developer, nor agitator - I want to participate, help and live here. The decision to work on the small scale is based on the idea that it can also produce bigger changes, but working with the real people and in small steps. I think that this art project is more effective than the demonstrations I participated in previously, because it starts from the small, in the immediate surrounding we live in. At one point I realized that one person cannot change the whole society, so I started thinking that changing smaller things can affect other people to make more of smaller changes and the sum of these would eventually produce a bigger change.
Elvis Krstulović: It sounds like you are, in a way, disappointed with the effects of earlier, more direct political engagements?
Chaneung Park: I always believed that power of art is to change bit by bit. So, that's why I started these kinds of things, and yes, I was disappointed a little bit at that time by the results of the social movements.
Iva Kovač: When did you first start with the art projects that deal with Seoksu area?
Chaneung Park: In 2002 I started thinking of a thirty-year-long project in Seoksu Market, not knowing about the New Town Project plans at that time.
Iva Kovač:Tell us a little bit about the New Town Project.
Chaneung Park: Nobody knows exactly when will it start, they mention 2020 as the year of it's completion. 70% of the people who live here don't have enough money to pay for the big buildings and the expensive apartments. This means that the higher income residents will occupy the place after the redevelopment takes place. I belong to these 770% what makes it impossible for me to support the redevelopment project.
Iva Kovač: If 770% of people will be forced to move away from this place when it is redone, how come they are not against it?
Chaneung Park: Actually this is the time for the people who live here and the government to discuses these things. I mean the New Town will be here, in that sense the decision was made. But the people who live here do not know the actual plans, the government is mentioning compensation, but the amount of the compensation and the prices of new apartments are still not decided.
Iva Kovač: The owner of Seoksu Market is one person. Does it change anything?
Chaneung Park: The people you are talking about maybe like the redevelopment, but the small store - owners don't like it, I think. I believe 50% of this New Town development will not be realized. I think that it is an urban developers daydream. The government is elected to govern for four, years so after four years it can be changed. And the number of people who think that the project is a dream is increasing. This is also why I think that the next few years are really important, and in this time I want to do cultural, educational, artistic projects, because nobody knows what will change after, say, five years, so I just concentrate on art that could change this small area here. Nowadays, maybe there are some people who like the proposed redevelopment project, but they can change their mind after five years. But I don't want Seoksu to be a popular place. I don't want Seoksu to be gentrified. I want it to develop slowly, step by step, and mix the past and the future. I don't invite artists to make it more expensive. My dream is to convert the central space of the market into a place where the citizens can come and enjoy arts, and to make a harmonious relationship between citizens and artists. I thought that, if the government gives me the chance, I could make my dream come true. There was a recent example when a company owner donated a really big piece of land to the public, so it became public property and the place was transformed in a public park. I dream that the owner of this market will do the same thing one day and the place can be turned into a kind of a park.
Elvis Krstulović: What is the role, or why do you think it's important to bring international artists in addition to the Korean ones? Is this for the artistic purposes or for the benefit of the local community?
Chaneung Park: I don't have a specific role for the project, I just think that every year the artists that come are totally different, so it depends on the artists and what they do. If you want to do something with the residents it's OK with me. The market place can stay or not, I don't know, but I want you to leave a trace, it is like that.