Installation view: Seoul Museum of Art
NEOKDURIM (PASSAGE), 2017
Color photograph.148 x 221,8 cm. Framed
Shaman Koh Sunahn of Jeju Island is seen together with the artist. The artist is seated on the floor in front of the shaman; behind them is a folding screen decorated with a Korean mountain scene. The Korean grandparents of the artist appear in a black-and-white photograph on the low table, which also contains offerings in the form of oranges and apples on small brass plates. The bookcase contains a map of Jeju Island in South Korea, which is the birthplace of Kaisen and the shaman alike.
A shaman is a spiritual guide who mediates between the living and the dead, thereby establishing a temporary connection. In the photograph, Shaman Koh Sunahn is performing neokdurim (넋들임), a shamanic ritual segment of recalling the lost souls. People are said to lose their soul when they are sick, but once the shaman expels these lesser evil spirits (pudasi), the body will return to a very clean and pure state and then the lost soul is taken back. The neokdurim thereby marks a transition: the reunion of soul and body.