Sulme & Jae-Nder Fluid
Sulme & Jae-Nder Fluid is a Korean artist duo based in Bremen, Germany, formed by Yeosulme Kang (1995) and Jaehwa Baek (1993).
Sulme earned Diplom and Meisterschüler degrees in Fine Arts at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen (under Prof. Heike Kati Barath)
Jae-Nder Fluid studied at Hongik University (KR) and Coventry School of Art and Design (GB), obtaining a BA(Hons) in Automotive & Transport Design. And received an MFA in Fine Arts - Design at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg (under Prof. Dr. Jesko Fezer)
Their selected exhibition experiences include at the Kunstverein Fischerhude, Frappant Galerie and Xpon gallery Hamburg in 2024 HIAP Suomenlinna in Helsinki, Weserburg Museum & GAK Bremen (Sulme) in 2023, Thealit - Frauen.Kultur.Labor. Bremen, MOMus Museum Thessaloniki (Jae-Nder Fluid), Museum Kesselhaus Herzberge Berlin in 2022, Worpswerder Kunsthalle and Kunstverein Bad Wonder etc. They were selected as the recipients of the 2023 Helsinki Artist Residency—a fully funded residency program at HIAP Suomenlinna awarded annually to one artist by Künstlerhaus Bremen. In 2024, they were nominated for the Kunstpreis Ottersberg 2024. They also received funding from the Senator für Kultur Bremen (Jungeszene & Subkultur) for their solo exhibition in December 2024.
Project
Gentrification and Queer-Immigrant spaces
We are a South Korean artist duo based in Bremen, Germany—Yeosulme Kang and Jaehwa Baek (also known as Sulme & Jae-Nder Fluid). Our upcoming project focuses on the disappearing and threatened queer-immigrant community spaces in Bremen and other parts of Germany and European society. We aim to explore how gentrification not only transforms physical spaces but also erodes the identity, history, and social relationships that these communities have built.
Through our work, we will investigate how capitalist structures and gentrification disproportionately affect marginalized queer-immigrant communities. Drawing on concepts like homocapitalism and homonecronationalism, we plan to document cases where economically vulnerable groups are displaced under the guise of urban redevelopment. Our research will try to look at how these processes exacerbate inequalities within the queer community, dividing it into mainstream and marginalized groups.
Our goal is to transform our findings into a visual art project. We intend to create an abstract video piece and an installation at the Thealit Arbeitszimmer, reimagining the lost and endangered queer-immigrant spaces we've studied. Rather than replicating these spaces directly, we'll reconstruct them artistically to evoke the themes of loss, resistance, and the ongoing impact of gentrification on these communities.
Statement
Sulme & Jae-Nder Fluid (Yeosulme Kang & Jaehwa Baek) is a South Korean artist duo based in Bremen, Germany. Their shared motivation is to explore the fluidity of social constructs through the lens of queer-immigrants in European society and to understand the complex interactions between marginalized individuals and society. This shared drive forms the foundation of their collaborative work as a collective through video, moving-image, installation, etc.
A key aspect of their artistic practice is the exploration of the intersection of two identities: immigrant and queer. Specifically, they attempt to connect this exploration with the concept of ‘spatiality.’ The concept of immigrant-queer spatiality does not have a clear definition and is rather fragmented. Therefore, they have established three criteria to classify and explore their own concept of immigrant-queer spatiality:
- ‘Spatial orientation and direction based on phenomenological experiences’
- ‘Freedom of gender performance regardless of nationality and race’
- ‘Exploration of future perspectives of immigrant-queer identities’
Using these three criteria, they examine how immigrant-queer individuals interact with space, how space influences their bodies, and how certain elements of space align with them. They aim to express these phenomena through their artistic practice.
Other work by Sulme & Jae-Nder Fluid
