Shim
American opens a cafe at the DMZ.
17 minutes and 27 seconds. digital video.
Shim was a free, one-day pop-up cafe staged in Yangji-ri village’s air raid shelter at the DMZ. Referencing Korean cafe culture’s fixation on third place, the DMZ’s evolution from security tourism, to ecological peace tourism, and its repurposing as art production site, Shim attempts to intervene and align the past and present.
Yangji-ri was one of many minbuk propaganda villages established by the Park Chung Hee regime in the 1960s to showcase the farming bounty and prosperity of the south for a North Korean gaze. The village was formerly part of the Civilian Control Line (CCL) until 2013 when it was reterritorialized as a normal part of South Korea. The village hosts an artist residency funded by the Cheorwon Cultural Foundation, and supported by the Real DMZ Project.
Yangji-ri / Cheorwon-gun, ROK.
2024
American opens a cafe at the DMZ.
17 minutes and 27 seconds. digital video.
Shim was a free, one-day pop-up cafe staged in Yangji-ri village’s air raid shelter at the DMZ. Referencing Korean cafe culture’s fixation on third place, the DMZ’s evolution from security tourism, to ecological peace tourism, and its repurposing as art production site, Shim attempts to intervene and align the past and present.
Yangji-ri was one of many minbuk propaganda villages established by the Park Chung Hee regime in the 1960s to showcase the farming bounty and prosperity of the south for a North Korean gaze. The village was formerly part of the Civilian Control Line (CCL) until 2013 when it was reterritorialized as a normal part of South Korea. The village hosts an artist residency funded by the Cheorwon Cultural Foundation, and supported by the Real DMZ Project.
Yangji-ri / Cheorwon-gun, ROK.
2024
Cafe Shim, 2024.
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
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Cafe Shim, 2024.
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
![]()
Cafe Shim, 2024.
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
![]()
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
Cafe Shim, 2024.
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
Cafe Shim, 2024.
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
Cafe Shim, 2024.
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
American opens a cafe at the DMZ, 2024.
17 minutes and 27 seconds, digital video.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
Installation in the air raid shelter.
Maxim instant coffee, Kanu instant coffee, Hyatt pastry, Konglish plastic stools, crate tables, string LED lights, push lights.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.
American opens a cafe at the DMZ, 2024.
17 minutes and 27 seconds, digital video.
Yangji-ri, Cheorwon-gun, DMZ, ROK.