What Is the Human Condition in the Age of AI? MMCA to Host "21st Century, The Human Condition" in Canada

Cultural and Arts Program "21st Century, The Human Condition"
to Be Held in Montreal, Canada
Celebrating the 2024-2025 Korea-Canada Year of Mutual Exchange

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) announced on July 28 that it will host the cultural and arts program "21st Century, The Human Condition" in Montreal, Canada, from August 18 to 23, 2024, in celebration of the 2024-2025 Korea-Canada Year of Mutual Exchange.

Poster for the Korea-Canada Cultural and Arts Convergence Program "21st Century, The Human Condition." National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

This event is co-hosted by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, with collaboration from the National Film Board of Canada, the Cin?ma du Mus?e at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and MUTEK, Montreal's world-renowned media art festival.

This program has been organized as an extension of the "Teleportation" exhibition, which was held at MMCA Seoul from October last year to February this year. Under the theme "Art in the Age of AI," the event consists of ▲ a Korean video art screening and talk ▲ a conference and VR screening. The conference will take place in Montreal on August 18. The screenings of contemporary art and experimental films will be held at the Cin?ma du Mus?e inside the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on August 22 and 23.

The conference and VR screening will feature Yoo Taekyung (professor at Chung-Ang University), Ji Haru (professor at OCAD University in Canada and media artist), and Canadian expert Nelly-Eve Rajotte (professor at UQAM), who will discuss video creation in the AI era. Lee Sujeong, curator at MMCA, and Louis-Richard Tremblay, Director of the Innovation Lab at the National Film Board of Canada, will moderate the discussions with artists from both countries. In particular, at the opening ceremony hosted by the National Film Board of Canada on August 18, three VR works will be introduced: "489 Years" by Kwon Hayoun (in the MMCA collection), "US Military Comfort Women Trilogy" by Kim Jina, and "Cinematic Screening: There Is No Poverty at the End of Labor" by Yoo Taekyung.

The Korean video art screening and talk will be held at the Cin?ma du Mus?e inside the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on August 22 and 23. Seven works by leading contemporary Korean visual artists, including Lim Heungsoon, Yum Jihye, Parking Chance (Park Chan-kyung and Park Chan-wook), and Kim Ahyoung, will be screened. The program will also feature Lim Heungsoon's "Factory Complex" (in the MMCA collection), which won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, as well as three short films by Yum Jihye: "AI Octopus," "Black Sun X: Casper, the Witch, and the Handstand Species," and "The Last Night." Both artists will share the background and artistic vision of their creations through on-site discussions with the audience. Parking Chance (Park Chan-kyung and Park Chan-wook) will present "Night Fishing" and "Believe It or Not," with Park Chan-kyung joining an online talk session. Kim Ahyoung's "Delivery Dancer's Sphere" will also be screened in Canada for the first time.

Kim Sunghee, Director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, stated, "In celebration of the Korea-Canada Year of Mutual Exchange, following the successful 'Teleportation' exhibition held at MMCA Seoul last year, this event presents a special opportunity to introduce the appeal and excellence of K-Art through VR and video works by contemporary Korean artists in Canada." She added, "Furthermore, I look forward to the active discussions and exchanges between artists from both countries on the meaning of art and humanity in the era of artificial intelligence, which will help build a broader international consensus."