A Theatrical Role-Play with Actors and a Contemporary Art Exhibition Reinterpreting Space
Pilot Project to Fill the Former Jangheung Prison's Idle Space with Culture and Art
An experimental project utilizing a unique space will be launched at the old Jangheung Prison, famous as a film shooting location.
Jangheung-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Kim Seong) announced on the 6th that, in the era of Jangheung’s cultural, artistic, and tourism renaissance, it plans to fill the old Jangheung Prison (hereafter referred to as the prison), which bears traces of 40 years as a correctional facility, with culture and the warmth of people.
The old Jangheung Prison, which had been closed off due to construction work, will be temporarily opened from the 14th of this month to the 3rd of next month for a fall-limited event titled “Exploring the Prison, Frieznale and Frieznolla.”
Jangheung-gun is hosting a unique prison cultural experience event held in an actual prison. [Photo by Jangheung-gun]
This event consists of the contemporary art exhibition “Frieznale” and the experiential event “Frieznolla,” providing a vivid glimpse into the cultural regeneration project site of the currently under-construction idle space.
First, the theatrical arts creative group “Heung” will open the door to “Exploring the Prison” with an experiential situational play. “Frieznolla” is an interactive program where participants take on the role of inmates and move throughout the prison with actors, solving quizzes while following intriguing stories.
The theatrical arts creative group Heung is a theater troupe composed of Jangheung actors who have been discovering local themes and conducting creative and performance projects.
“Frieznale” is a contemporary art exhibition collaboratively conducted by artist Lee Subin, a graduate of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in Germany who has been continuously exhibiting in the contemporary art field, along with artists Kim Gyumin and Choi Inho.
In the prison’s darkest space, the internal detention building, which has a distinct aesthetic color, installations, media art, and conceptual art worlds are presented, preserving the prison’s original characteristics while reinterpreting them in a modern way.
The experiential program will be held four times: on the 14th (1st session) from 2 PM to 4 PM, the 15th (2nd session) from 2 PM to 4 PM, and on the 18th (3rd and 4th sessions) from 11 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 5 PM. Anyone above elementary school age can participate.
The exhibition will be held from the 22nd to the 3rd of next month, from 2 PM to 6 PM, and will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
However, participation in the experiential program is limited to those who make prior reservations. Applicants can register by scanning the QR code posted on web posters, banners, and banners with their phones to access the Naver form link and fill in their information.
The number of participants per session is limited to 15 on a first-come, first-served basis. Detailed information can be found through the Old Jangheung Prison Idle Space Cultural Regeneration Project Team and the Jangheung-gun website.
Kim Younghyun, the project team leader, said, “Although this is a pilot project prepared with safety precautions due to ongoing construction, this event will record the process of connecting the closed prison, a cultural resource of Jangheung-gun, with young local artists, and will serve as an opportunity to gauge the potential for creating a healthy and self-sustaining local cultural ecosystem.” He added, “I hope this will be a creative work that blends the meaning and interpretation of the prison with the unique imagination of art.”
He also added, “In the future, we will work with residents to make it a space for reflection and recovery as a ‘Rehabilitation Cultural Transmission Base.’”
The old Jangheung Prison is the only real prison filming location in Korea, where video content is filmed for more than 100 days annually. It has been selected for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s “Idle Space Cultural Regeneration Project,” and construction is being accelerated with the goal of opening in the second half of next year (around September).
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