Channelling spirits of resistance

Dohee Lee talks to Anna Barfuss and Anke Dyes

Dohee Lee’s work as an artist can be traced back to Jeju Island, the South Korean “Island of the Goddesses” that is famed for its original matriarchal structures. The shamanism practised by the women informs a performative and musical tradition that vividly recalls scenes of colonial and misogynistic violence – to counter it, but also to heal injuries suffered. Can patriarchal and colonial power relations be exorcised?

Dohee Lee’s performance ritual MU/巫 will take place in the Gösserhallen on Friday, 15 June as part of Deep Friday #3. Admission is free.

Dohee Lee, born on Jeju Island, South Korea, is a performance artist. She studied Korean dance, singing and percussion, and has been living and working in Oakland, California since 1998. In her multidisciplinary work she combines traditional practices rooted in shamanism with contemporary art forms and emphasises the mythical, experimental, ritualistic, theatrical and healing aspects of art.

Anna Barfuss is an artist and is currently writing about feminist voices and resistive embodiments of gender in music and moving images at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 2017 she received a studio scholarship from the Federal Chancellery of Austria, allowing her to work in London.

Anke Dyes is an artist and cultural scientist. From 2016 to 2018 she was an editor at Texte zur Kunst and is currently doing her doctorate on performance discourses at the Academy of Fine Arts.