Poster image of 《Attention! Zombies》 © ACC

ACC CONTEXT 《Attention! Zombies》, a temporary exhibition based on the results of research on contemporary Asian themes, is an exhibition that reflects on the symbolism of zombies. Zombies began to appear in European and American films during the shift to the 20th century.

After undergoing several makeovers, zombies began appearing as protagonists in 21st-century Korean visual media. How was this “contemporary monster,” which transcends time and borders, created? Starting with this question, 《Attention! Zombies》 reinterprets zombies beyond simple creations of popular culture—as contemporary symbols that have taken on the temporality and regionality of this age.

The first part of the exhibition, “Asian Zombie Chronicle,” brings together examples of zombies in visual media from the early 20th century to the present day and analyzes and visualizes them.

By arraying the different examples of zombies in Korean, Asian, and Western popular culture with significant events in Korean and world history, this section seeks to help visitors understand the historical context behind these figures. Furthermore, it focuses on the idea of zombies as a social mirror that reflects our society’s changes, anxieties, and unique culture.

The second part of the exhibition, “Night of the Living Corpses,” showcases 14 works by 10 teams of artists active in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Participating works express the symbol of zombies from different human angles, such as life and death, desire, terror, and chaos, all through the media of contemporary art.


PARK Seong Jun, press conference (new version), 2022, Interactive installation, computer, Kinect sensor, strobe lights, stage lighting, 4 speakers, table, microphone, 4-channel sound, Dimensions variable, 4 min 30 sec © PARK Seong Jun

Notably, as a part of the Asia Culture Center (ACC)’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practice, the exhibition seeks to reuse temporary walls and furniture from existing exhibition spaces and further builds upon a dystopian atmosphere by breaking and recombining sections of temporary walls.

Through this exhibition, the ACC seeks to rediscover the value of zombies as metaphors of the age and sociocultural symbols that deliver the story of the here and now.

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