Jane Jin Kaisen's video works at esea contemporary explore Jeju Island's haenyeo divers and suppressed history

Jane Jin Kaisen's video installation Halmang (2023) and earlier work Of the Sea (2013) center on the women sea divers of Jeju Island, known as haenyeo. These pieces are currently on view at esea contemporary in Manchester. The works document the traditional practices of these divers while addressing historical trauma, including the Jeju Uprising massacres from 1947 to 1954. Kaisen's grandfather, imprisoned during this period, authored Annals of the Jeju Haenyeo's Anti-Japanese Resistance in 1995. The video Halmang shows elderly Jeju women silently folding a continuous length of sochang, a white cotton cloth with spiritual significance, against the island's volcanic coastline. The title translates to 'goddess' or 'grandmother' in Jejuan. Kaisen's work engages with Jeju's memory culture, which has been threatened by modernization and mass tourism. Traditional harvesting methods have been replaced by industrial ones. The artist explains that silenced histories were often addressed through ritual mourning and performances by shamans. An anti-colonial song, composed by imprisoned activist Kang Kwan-soon and sung by haenyeo during Japanese rule until 1945, features in Of the Sea. South Korea's government apologized for its role in the suppression sixty years after the events. The article contrasts Kaisen's approach with historical romanticizations of fishing life, such as Georges Bizet's 1863 opera The Pearl Fishers. Frances Forbes-Carbines authored the piece for ArtReview.