This piece of art is called “The Girl of Peace”. Starting from 1910, Japan started to control the Korean government and annexed Korea. In the process, more than 20,000 Korean girls were forced to live their life as “comfort women”, which is sexual slaves who served in military brothels. Though this fact was concealed for years, after Mr. Haksoon started the public testimony about her life as a sexual slave, Koreans started to protest against the Japanese government, demanding an apology. Thus, the artist made this statue to remember the history and to stop further sex slave in any parts of the world. The author claims that there shouldn’t be a repeat in such dark history.
The statue is wearing Korea’s traditional cloth called Hanbok. The Hanbok was what girls were wearing when they were forcibly dragged away from the Japanese military. The Hanbok has holes and stains, which symbolizes the violence of the Japanese government. The girl has her fist clenched, and this symbolizes her firm will to make history known to society and to protest till the end. In the Chosun Dynasty, Koreans didn’t cut their hair because they regarded it as a part of their body that was given from parents. However, the statue has short, ripped hair, which Moreover, according to the Korean dictionary, the bird symbolizes the spiritual medium between alive people and dead people, since it can both fly in the sky and walk on the ground simultaneously. If we look closely, we can find the bird sitting on top of the girl’s shoulder. Considering that most of the victims of Japanese imperialism are now dead, I believe the bird shows the connection between them and us. This directly shows the people’s will to not forget the history and the victim. Moreover, there is a shadow behind the statue. One thing interesting is that this shadow isn’t made naturally by the sunlight; it is made with dark stones. I initially thought this was made due to the artistic purpose; however, according to the artist, the shadow is in the form of a grandmother. By making a shadow in the form of a grandmother, the artist wanted to show the grief and pain that the young girl had to go through even until she became old. The artist conveyed the message that the inner pain and grief can’t go away even the time flows. The butterfly engraved on the heart of the shadow symbolizes reincarnation, and it embodies the hope of the grandmother who passed away to be reborn in a better world.
I believe the artist’s decision to make a statue instead of giving a speech or writing an article was much more effective. First of all, though the girl is a victim of war, the girl looks strong with her clenched hand and determined and vibrant eyes. This kind of image can directly bring up people’s emotions of empathy. Moreover, her strong eyes can make people keep thinking about the statue, which allows the artist to achieve his ultimate goal: making people remember the history and the victim. Moreover, I think the empty chair, which is also a part of the statue, adds up to the significance of the statue. This empty chair makes the people feel like they should sit in there; this further brings up people’s emotions of sadness and desire to console the little girl. In this sense, the statue is much more effective in conveying the author’s message compared to other mediums.
This statue started to have its social impact after it became famous on SNS. People started to sit in the chair and take a picture to post and share on SNS, and this stimulated the local government to hold the festival, which includes choir, poetry reading, and many different kinds of artistic showcases. Korea’s central government decided to make many more statues in other countries as well. In this sense, this statue is no longer just protesting against sex slaves. It’s a protest against war and hatred, a protest for peace and love.
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon (Lina)
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