Artist and curator Myung-Sun Kim has been spending the last few weeks in residence at Struts Gallery, preparing to host Sackvillians in Bubble, Burn, Gather: Rituals for Belonging this Wednesday at the Sackville Community Garden. The event is free and open to all ages, but registration is required in advance by emailing Struts at admin@strutsgallery.ca
The event will feature sharing in makgeolli, a Korean fermented rice wine, as well as other snacks, and rituals being planned by Kim and collaborator, poet Jody Chan.
Kim won’t share too many details about what the rituals will be, but there will be a short writing ritual that can be done collectively and also independently, and the snacks on offer will figure into the experience. “Every component of what we’re going to be having is going to be part of the ritual,” says Kim. “The important part is that people come with whatever comfort level they feel comfortable in, and we’ll have very cozy ties around the fire over.
Hear Myung-Sun Kim in conversation on Tantramar Report:
While in residence at Struts, Kim has been brewing makgeolli as well as ginger beer thanks to help from the Struts community. “We actually needed all these vessels and a dehydrator and all sorts of different equipment,” says Kim, all of which was borrowed from different people in the Sackville community, including a ceramic vessel from Struts programming director Simone Schmidt, a family heirloom used by their grandmother to make plum wine.
“In a way, I feel like this community actually made this makgeolli together,” says Kim, who’s been moved by the friendliness of her experience in Struts’ Open Studio program. “This is one of the warmest, welcoming places I’ve been to in a very long time,” says Kim. “And much of that has to do with Struts staff, who really welcomed and introduced me to their community here and invited me over for dinner and things like that.”
Kim has been making makgeolli in part as a way of reconnecting with the history of her Korean background, some of which is not written in the history books. “When I started making makgeolli, it gave me access to elders who carry these stories that were never published,” says Kim. “Or, you know, it wasn’t in any of the literature that I found.” The rice wine was actually outlawed through a good part of its 200 year history. Stabilized versions are sometimes available for commercial sale, but the drink as brewed traditionally is something that changes with time, says Kim. “It’s a spirit that stays living, and every day it transforms and becomes more effervescent.”
For Kim, brewing the living spirit is “a way to carry my ancestors with me in the places I go, but also be able to share it with other people.”
Kim says she’s excited at the prospect of meeting and connecting with new people at Bubble, Burn, Gather. “It’s very generous of people to give their time. Coming out of the pandemic, where we’ve been isolated long enough, this could be a really generative and healing ritual to do collectively, together, in a way that’s safe,” says Kim.
“Hopefully, this will be something that can bring people together, regardless of whether it’s strangers or people coming from different paths of life,” says the artist.
Bubble, Burn, Gather: Rituals for Belonging is happening Wednesday, October 26, 5pm-7:30pm, at the Sackville Community Garden. Pre-register by October 24 by emailing admin@strutsgallery.ca.
A few notes about the event:
- bring your own cup (ideally bowl-like, with a wide mouth)
- dress in warm clothes, and protect yourself from mosquitoes and bugs
- gluten-free and some limited vegan options will be available
- all-ages friendly
