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Haenyeo:
Women Of The Sea


 

Hyung S. Kim

Hyung S. Kim

 

Mikhail Karikis, Heeyoung Koh & Hyung S. Kim

Haenyeo: Women Of The Sea

The National Maritime Museum

Romney Rd Greenwich

London SE10 9NF

2017

This exhibition at The National Maritime Museum London focused on The Haenyeo free divers of the South Korean Island of Jeju.  An exploration through portraiture and film revealed a culture of fortitude and resilience together with a great respect for the Sea.

 

This 3 month event featured artists Hyung S. Kim,  Mikhail Karikis and Heeyoung Koh, curated by Mark Waugh and Soo Cho with support from Joanna Salter at The National Maritime Museum Greenwich.

Mikhail Karikis & Hyung S. Kim

Mikhail Karikis & Hyung S. Kim

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"From Sunday 5th March to Saturday 1st April, the fascinating story of haenyeo and their community is told from two different perspectives, through life-size photographic portraits taken by Hyung S. Kim, and SeaWomen, a video and sound installation by Mikhail Karikis. Both components of the exhibition celebrate the unique culture of haenyeo, who for centuries have harvested seafood from the ocean without any diving apparatus. The women dive for up to seven hours a day and range in age from 11 to over 70 years.

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The inspiration for Kim’s series of portraits stems from his visit to Jeju Island in 2012, where he was captivated by the haenyeo and the power, resilience and unique physical performance used in their daily lives. He chose to photograph them in their most natural state, showing the divers emerging from the sea, exhausted and wet after the long hours spent diving. The photographs are intended to show the haenyeo, not as relics, nor trophies, but as beautiful and strong portraits of working people.

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Karikis came across the divers, searching for seafood and pearls, during his residency on the island of Jeju. Taken aback by the unique way the haenyeo communicate with one another, his video and sound installation captures the sonic signature of the community of divers. Karikis has also created watercolour portraits, painted whilst holding his breath in empathy with their working conditions. Both artists’ work is an insight into the culture of the Jeju divers, who have contributed to the advancement of women’s status within their community, whilst promoting environmental sustainability with their eco-friendly fishing methods.

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Haenyeo: Women of the Sea will open to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday 5th March. Visitors can also view the documentary film Breathing Underwater about haenyeo on Tuesday 7th March, followed by a discussion with the artist." -  

Caroline King

"This March 2017 join the National Maritime Museum as it celebrates the start of Women’s History Month with the opening of Haenyeo: Women of the Sea, an exhibition exploring the fascinating lives of the female divers of Jeju in South Korea.

Running from 5 March–1 June 2017, extended due to popularity, the fascinating story of haenyeo and their community is told from two different perspectives, through life-size photographic portraits taken by Hyung S. Kim and SeaWomen, a video and sound installation by Mikhail Karikis. Both components of the exhibition celebrate the unique culture of haenyeo, who for centuries have harvested seafood from the ocean without any diving apparatus." National Maritime Museum Press Release.

The Women of The Sea - National Maritime Museum London_

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"Feminist quiz question of the day: Where in the world has a society existed since the 17th century in which women do all the work and the men take care of home and childcare? Google “haenyeo divers” and you’ll find that just such an impressive cultural economy exists in the Jeju coastal area of South Korea, where the “Amazons of Asia” dive for valuable shellfish without breathing apparatuses well into their eighties. Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton discovered this at a traveling photography exhibition at London’s National Maritime Museum last year. “They are just so incredibly strong, and we found it fascinating to look at how they dress to dive—with their scuba equipment, but feminizing it with layers of lace blouses or other bits of clothing from their wardrobes.” As parents raising two daughters, the designers want to immerse their children in the belief that gender equality is a right. After deep reading around the haenyeo community, they made the obvious connection with the state of mother nature. The makings of a collection that centered on eco-feminism was born.

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With prior knowledge of this research background, you could pick out the references: the tight hoods, scuba fabric parkas and pencil skirts, trails of fishnet, bags manifested as buoys, marine blues, shimmery mother-of-pearl and gold sequins, and “seaweed”-sprouting shoes. Had you not read up? You’d see Preen by Thornton Bregazzi working its way through its signature repertoire of florals and dippy-hemmed dresses, with some Asian-appropriated padded brocade coats, fringed with goat hair.

Where does that leave us? The submerged meanings are important to these designers—they’ve gotten into the habit of leaving photographs of stacks of their reading matter on benches at their shows. Still, plunging into eco-waters and matters of cultural appropriation will inevitably raise many questions today." Sarah Mower Vogue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Heeyoung Koh

Heeyoung Koh

Inscribed in 2016 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

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"In Jeju Island, there is a community of women, some aged in their 80s, which goes diving 10m under the sea to gather shellfish, such as abalone or sea urchins for a living without the help of oxygen masks. With knowledge of the sea and marine life, the Jeju haenyeo (female divers) harvest for up to seven hours a day, 90 days of the year holding their breath for just one minute for every dive and making a unique verbal sound when resurfacing. Divers are categorised into three groups according to level of experience: hagun, junggun and sanggun with the sanggun offering guidance to the others. Before a dive, prayers are said to the Jamsugut, goddess of the sea, to ask for safety and an abundant catch. Knowledge is passed down to younger generations in families, schools, local fishery cooperatives which have the area’s fishing rights, haenyeo associations, The Haenyeo School and Haenyeo Museum. Designated by the provincial government as representating the island’s character and people’s spirit, the culture of Jeju haenyeo has also contributed to the advancement of women’s status in the community and promoted environmental sustainability with its eco-friendly methods and community involvement in management of fishing practices." - ich.unesco.org/en/RL/culture-of-jeju-haenyeo-women-divers-01068

Waugh Office was established in 2011 by Julia Waugh and Mark Waugh,

 as a hybrid platform curating exhibitions, events and publications internationally

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