Listening for the Voice of “TEUM”

The Korean word teum has multiple definitions that overarch the notions of space, time, and psychology: a break or gap in between two objects, a moment of spare time, a window of opportunity, distance created between people. Hence, teum can be both an opening through which something could slip out or a connective medium. Teum is always around us, yet despite the word being used in our daily lives, its existence is hardly recognized. Teum is small or short by nature. It remains inconspicuously in a corner—as opposed to the main space—or is as short as a fleeting moment, a span of time barely long enough to catch one’s breath. As such, we use the word teum to refer to things so small or short that they remain outside the boundary of attention. Unless we pay it special heed, it is extremely easy to pass teum by without ever recognizing its existence.

The 2023 Asia Culture Center (ACC) Open Call Exhibition Listening for the Voice of “TEUM” aims to maximize the mediating properties of the Open Hall in the ACC Theatre lobby. Connecting the theater and the exhibition hall, the Open Hall is intended as a communal area where visitors can spend time before performances and during intermissions. Such a space could be viewed as a teum in that it is used only on performance days. This exhibition opts to forgo use of the exhibition hall, and instead installs works in the open hall—thereby exploring its potential as a connective space between the theater and exhibition hall, and highlighting the various functions and meanings of teum.

The ACC carried out a contest under the theme of “teum” in February 2023, through which artists Enjung Lee and Jiwon Yu were selected to be featured in the exhibition. Works by both artists truly embody the spatial and temporal definitions of teum. Through the process of stitching printed images of trees together, Lee creates teum that act as a channel between the past and present to deliver a message of solidarity and love. Yu presents a fragmented image—produced by ripping and tearing special, multiple-layered cardboard intended for architectural use—creating an artificial teum through which those trapped in the illusion of capitalism are proffered to look reality in the eye. Placed outside of the familiar space of the exhibition hall, the works by the two artists will initiate conversations among visitors passing through the teum (space) of the open hall, asking for a teum (moment) of their time and a teum (place) in their minds. Ultimately, such conversation will allow visitors the teum (opportunity) to look back on valuable things that went unrecognized amidst their busy lives.