Fermented Dreams

This performance will reimagine and interpret the dreams of three generations of women: Ayoung, Ayoung’s mother, and Ayoung’s grandmother. Featuring contemporary dance and ritual-based movements, the performance will take place in a site-specific installation that centers on the onggi vessel (traditional Korean fermentation vessels). 30 large hand-thrown onggis will be situated throughout the gallery, each containing micro environments and a sound component comprising vocal recitations.

Drawing from Ayoung’s early memories of burying fermentation vessels with her mother and grandmother in the family herb garden in the suburbs of New Jersey, the performance reflects on the process of cultural inheritance in diasporic communities. It meditates on the precarity of preservation practices in intergenerational migrant contexts and what it means to “pass on” traditions.

Throughout the performance, the audience will be offered a variety of fermented dishes that the artists have prepared in the gallery.