DMZLand
Josephine Turalba’s inspiration for this ambitious undertaking stems from a 2019 project which she produced for an exhibition in the Demilitarized Zone on the border of North and South Korea (DMZ) called DMZland (dmmm-zee-land). While researching in the DMZ, she became fascinated with the carnivalesque irony she witnessed there as South Korean tourists snapped selfies in a “Disneyfied” amusement park atmosphere, frolicking on and around the imaginary borderline between historic enemies who could go to war at any minute.
Key elements of Josephine’s DMZland—a life-size parachute made of actual parachute material, comprised of a collage of doll cut-outs referencing Disneyland’s It’s a Small World water-boat ride, icons of war and China’s penchant for gambling; framed panels made of left over parachute designs and a horde of red toy solider paratroopers—were reimagined and integrated into the High Wire, High Seas exhibition. The survival parachute transformed into a tent enclosing a pseudo military encampment with war paraphernalia scattered around the tent floor, nautical maps of the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoals. In one corner, is a television blaring a montage of news footage from news agencies such as ABS-CBN, GMA 7, 60mins, Aljazeera, and Channel News Asia intercut with political analysts talking about the BRI at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Carnegie Council for International Affairs, and superimposed 3D animated humanoids, terracotta soldiers, gambling and military icons
One hundred forty-five shiny red-painted army paratroopers swoop down from the gallery’s ceilings landing on the floor. Their colorful parachutes, made from a single discarded parachute, are imprinted with 10 positive and 10 negative designs. These photoshopped collages obtained from internet stock photos and illustrations of military planes, helicopters, submarines, barbed wire, playing cards, poker chips, dice, the Chinese dragon, camouflage, and other Chinese symbols are emblematic of China’s suspect “expansionism and Easternization” in the Philippines and the surrounding region. Single words like “culture”, “intervention”, “build”, and “occupy” are inscribed on some of the parachutes, punctuating what Josephine has identified as the various perspectives on China’s encroaching domination, not just in the Philippines, but around the world.
~ Angel Velasco Shaw, Excerpt from Reflections on Trojan Horses and Icons of War, 2020
