In her newly created film installation Dismemberment (2024), she presents a political and shamanistic allegory where a gallerist, embodying Enlightenment ideals, undergoes a ‘dismemberment gut,’ a ritual inspired by the traditional Korean healing practice Ssitgim gut.* The gallerist, the colonial and patriarchal figure of Europa, is portrayed by actress Susanne Sachsse in an all female cast. Through this character, Sara examines the colonial condition of Europe, intertwining ritual objects and artworks to challenge the boundaries imposed by colonial narratives that separate art from spiritual practice.

 

The installation invites viewers into a space where the film and objects reflect on the deep entanglements of colonialism within Western systems of categorization and racialization. It also reflects on the historical experiences of Asian women, their mothers, and grandmothers in Europe, acknowledging the cycles of violence they have faced and calling for change. Through visions and song-making, Sara reimagines the gallery space as a site of ancestral convergence, situated in the present and honoring the spiritual world, with which the ‘European Enlightenment project’ severed ties.

 

*During the ssitimgut ritual one is taken apart by the gods, and that which no longer serves the person – whether that be greed, arrogance, abusiveness or sickness, for example – will be removed leading to one's rebirth, assembled anew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Installation views Dismemberment Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide) at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam. Photography Johannes Schwartz

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Credits

Filminstallation, directing, camera, editing, text, voice, costume, set design, artworks, sound and production: Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide)

CAST: 
GALLERIST EUROPA
    Susanne Sachsse
ARTIST/MUDANG        
DAESIN HALMEONI - GREAT SPIRIT GRANDMOTHER
SANSIN - MOUNTAIN GOD
    Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide)

OPERA SINGER
Jinok Kim-Eicken
VOICE OVER, PERCUSSION & SINGER     
Bo-Sung Kim    

GREAT GRANDMOTHER ANCESTORS / EXTRAS
Valentina Wong
Agentur Connection Berlin:
Séverine Bouyssou
Jayara Mithila Dampahalage
Eri Dürr
Phelora Felim
Dain Jeon
Minh Chi La
Sarah Rehaiem
Jongbin Park
Huang Ziwei

CREW

PRODUCTION:
Dagmara Konsek
Daniela Höller
Stephan Urban

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
& EDITING

Coco Magnusson (Berlin)

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Gyeol Koo (Korea)
Jane Hwang (Berlin)

CAMERA
Silke Briel
Ethan Folk
Irina Jasnowski
Kyungman Kim

PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER
Lena Marcus
Frank Friedemann

COLOUR GRADING
Gregor Pfüller

STYLING, HAIR & MAKE-UP
Christian Fritzenwanker


ASSISTANT HAIR & MAKE UP EXTRAS
Rebecca Naylor

PRODUCTION
PHALLIC OBJECTS
Thomas Swinkels

COSTUME
Claudia Hill
Kahori Furukawa
Monika Smikalla

PRODUCTION
PHALLIC OBJECTS
Thomas Swinkels

SONG
SISTERS, MOTHERS, GRANDMOTHERS" (2024)
TEXT
Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide)
COMPOSITION
Jinok Kim-Eicken

SONGS - JINDO SSITGIM GUT
"KIL DAGGEUM"
"SHINNORAE"
SINGER & PERCUSSION
Bo-Sung Kim


RESEARCH ASSISTANCE KOREA
TRANSLATION
Mijoo Park
Soyoon Ryhu

TRANSLATION
Susanne Sachsse
J. Ekenhorst


THIS FILM WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Mondriaan Fund
Fellowship 2022-2023
Berliner Programm Künstlerische Forschung
Kunstinstituut Melly

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT
LOCATION GALLERY
Berliner Programm Künstlerische Forschung
Rike Frank and J. Ekenhorst
LOCATION FIRE
Künstlerhof Frohnau
Kaya Behkalam
VITRINES
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
JEWELERY
Townes, Berlin

THANK YOU TO MY TEACHERS
Kim Hye Kyoung
Kim Keum Hwa (1931-2019)
mudang Jenn
Roel Crabbé