Becoming Birds: The Practice of Snakes, Water, and Birds is a performance program organized by Black Jaguar in collaboration with students from diverse backgrounds currently residing in Gangneung. The artist, the GIAF Curatorial team, and the Dabom Human Rights Center have joined forces to orchestrate an event that brings together students from Ieul School in Okgye-myeon and Gangneung Haeram Middle School KSL (Korean as a Second Language) learners, who have migrated to Gangneung from other countries. This initiative seeks to create a gathering of these students in the local forest and village. The program unfolds in Eoheul-ri, which serves as both the entrance and exit of the National Center for Forest Therapy in Daegwallyeong and Okgye-myeon. Building upon these diverse backgrounds, students will cultivate a symbiotic relationship that spans the divide between humans and non-humans. Through the program, the artist and students create connections with non-human subjects, including plants and birds, coexisting within forests and villages, while also addressing the pertinent issues faced by minority groups. Guided by themes such as ‘snakes–relying on smell and heat rather than sight in perceiving objects,’ ‘water– flowing indiscriminately across boundaries,’ and ‘birds–practicing fearless flight,’ students will immerse themselves in non-human perspectives, thereby enriching their sensory awareness. Active participation in these activities aims to cultivate new relationships based on processes of ‘becoming’ that transcend sight-centric knowledge.

*This program is operated in collaboration with the Cultural Art Therapy Program of the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service.