The title of this work is Statue of Peace (formal name is Monument of Peace,not Statue of Comfort Women).The Korean sculptor couple, KIM Seogyeong-KIM Unseong, who were part of the cultural movement Minjung art (People art), created the statue. Minjung art occurred uniquely in Korea as the artistic response towards the dictatorship in the 1980s, and its spirit to stand against injustice has been inherited over generations. Commemorating the 1000th Wednesday demonstration that had been taking place for 20 years in front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul to retrieve the human rights and honor of the victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery, this work was erected as a memorial monument to honor and inherit the fight for human rights of the women with its plan proposed by a citizens’ group and the funds raised by the citizens.
Its largest feature is that the statue is designed so that the viewer can communicate with it. With the pedestal kept low, the viewer’s eyesight comes at the same height as the girl when the viewer is on the chair. The artwork achieved exceptional success and made itself a public art that continues to move people’s hearts. Statue of Peace has now become the symbol of the “struggle over memories” to eradicate war and sex crimes, and has spread over Korea as well as the world. On the other hand, the Japanese government has been announcing that the statute infringes the Vienna Convention and that the statue should be removed and relocated from the front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul. However, objections against it have been raised based on global precedents and aspects from International Human Rights Law, and have caused a larger dispute.
In 2012, a miniature of the statue was exhibited at the JAALA International Exchange Exhibition held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, however, was demolished on the fourth day of the exhibition without informing the artist, as the museum claimed it infringed the museum’s operation outline.
Details depicted in this sculpture, such as the shadow of a halmeoni (old woman) indicating the life-long pain of the victims who had suffered for such a long time since wartime till today, as well as the heavily injured feet floating in air indicating how they could not return to their hometowns, or even if they did, how insecure their lives had been there (reflecting the Korean society as well), are truly significant as well. (OKAMOTO Yuka)
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