"How to FLY"

"How to FLY"

by Le Phi Long, November 2018
.Specil thank Asian Highway project.
.Performed at Cheorwon-gun Korean Workers' Party Headquarters (철원 노동 당사) and Korean War Veterans Memorial

“How to Fly” took place in an abandoned building of Korea’s Labor Party, in DMZ, Cheongju, South Korea. In 1954, Vietnam was divided into two military zones at 17th parallel north after the first Indochina war. This divide lasted until April 30th, 1975 when the reunification came about. In 1954, the Second World War ended, the Korean peninsula was divided into North and South Korea at the 38th parallel. In 2018, the world got to see the image of Ms. Kim Yo Jong delivered a letter from the North Korean leader inviting the South Korean President Moon Jae In to step north of the 38th parallel, followed by a concert that was broadcast around the world, marking a milestone of Inter-Korean relation-building period between the two countries on the Korean peninsula. Inspired by the song Arirang – which means ‘to overcome,’ a Korean traditional song about overcoming difficulties to reconstruct society and build solidarity, Le Phi Long used local wood to create a swing to be displayed at the Korean Labor Party building - a remnant of war and division. In the romantic Korean winter, I invited the audience to sit on and play with the work. "How to fly" reminisces the history of this period between two countries, remembering the wounds caused by the Korean and the Allied troops that left as a painful legacy on the people of central Vietnam in 1965. "Arirang" as a flying dream contemplates overcoming while acknowledging the difficulty in remembering, yet healing is crucial in order to advance into the future. The work is supported by the project “Asia Highway Project” and the program “Sincerely sorry, Vietnam” in 2018.