Sea salt has shaped Shinan's identity for generations, produced through collective labour across the tidal flats of South Korea's southwest coast. Vhils's 2024 portrait of a salt worker, made for URBAN BREAK, sets that history into the wall's material surface, letting memory surface gradually through the act of carving. The commission reflects a recurring concern in Vhils's practice: labour that remains largely absent from official histories, and the way local knowledge and collective effort continue to define a place's identity. It ties Shinan's salt-making tradition to the wider conversations fostered by URBAN BREAK.
Year2024PlaceShinan, South Korea